The European Union as an Actor in the General Agreement on Trade in Services - Contents, Chances and Risks of Negotiations
The European Union as an Actor in the General Agreement on Trade in Services - Contents, Chances and Risks of Negotiations

Author: Joanna Mastalerek

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2005-02-14

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 363834990X

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Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: A, Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Europaeistik), course: The Common Market and International Commerce, language: English, abstract: In 1994, the majority of countries which founded the WTO in 1995, concluded a first general agreement on the liberalization of services (GATS). Within the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) liberalization in international trade of services is supposed to be negotiated progressively 1 . Among 12 service subsectors, education is explicitly featured in GATS. However, before the inclusion of education in the Service Round negotiations as part of the Doha Round in the year 2000, educational services did not draw much attention. One reason being the strong underestimation of their market shares. The EU, as one of the Contracting Parties of the GATS, has already agreed at the Uruguay Round in 1994, to guarantee free access and non-discrimination for foreign competitors in almost the entire education sector, that consists of primary, secondary, tertiary education as well as adult education. Until 2005 the ongoing Doha Round scheduled further liberalization of educational services and thus the EU is likely to be under the pressure to even further liberalize its education sector. Since large parts of the education sector in the EU belong to public service, liberalization of educational services is a subject of heated debate. Neoliberal economists and politicians view the privatization of public services as the best way to increase both efficiency and the benefit for all members of the society. Anti-globalization activists fear the loss of public control over essential public services and regard the society as exposed to the ruthless greed of gain by multinational companies. Moreover the anti-globalization activists complain about the redefinition of educational services as a profitable product. The international trade of educational services thus remains a highly controversial issue, causing the necessity for careful deliberation of the particular contents, chances and risks of the liberalization of educational services. This essay will take up this kind of deliberation, explaining the relevance of educational services in international trade and the significance of education as a public service.

Regulatory Autonomy and International Trade in Services
Regulatory Autonomy and International Trade in Services

Author: Bregt Natens

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2016-07-27

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1785364316

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This book considers how the interplay between multilateral and preferential liberalisation of trade in services increasingly raises concerns, both from the perspective of the beneficiaries of such liberalisation (whose rights are uncertain) and that of regulators (whose regulatory autonomy is constrained). The author shows how these concerns lead to vast underutilisation of, and strong prejudices against, the benefits of services liberalisation. The book meticulously analyses and compares the EU's obligations under the GATS and the services chapters of several RTAs to finally assess the merits of the raised concerns.

EU Trade Agreements and European Integration
EU Trade Agreements and European Integration

Author: Markus Gastinger

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-11-23

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1003819435

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EU Trade Agreements and European Integration studies 50 bilateral trade agreements negotiated by the European Commission from 1970–2008 and how they shaped European integration. The book argues that the Commission used these trade agreements, signed primarily with countries in Asia and Latin America, to advance European integration by ensuring that they became wider in scope and institutionally deeper by establishing ‘joint bodies’ – even in the face of resistance from member states in the Council of the European Union. Drawing upon principal–agent theory to explain Commission autonomy and Council control as well as extensive archival material and other sources across six in-depth case studies, it shows that the Commission primarily relied on asymmetric information to shape trade agreements in earlier negotiations. In later negotiations, the Commission harnessed its agenda-setting power to submit agreements that the Council could only accept or reject. Overall, the book argues that these 50 trade agreements significantly impacted European integration by increasing the Commission’s external action capability, transforming it into a truly global political actor – one trade agreement at a time. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of European Union Studies and EU policy making, practitioners involved in trade and external relations, and engaged citizens in Europe and abroad, particularly in India, which is prominently featured in the book.

Business Guide to the General Agreement on Trade in Services
Business Guide to the General Agreement on Trade in Services

Author: Commonwealth Secretariat

Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780850925418

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The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a historical agreement covering a wide range of international service transactions. In support of further trade negotiations, the Guide also highlights issues in which the business community may wish to provide input as preparations for trade negotiations move forward.

Preferential Services Liberation
Preferential Services Liberation

Author: Johanna Jacobsson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-12-05

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 1108476163

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An in-depth analysis of the legal criteria that the WTO sets for preferential trade agreements in the area of services.

Negotiating Services Liberalization Within TTIP - The EU External Trade Policy at Crossroads
Negotiating Services Liberalization Within TTIP - The EU External Trade Policy at Crossroads

Author: Panos Delimatsis

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13:

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The conclusion of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) constitutes a priority and key component of the new external trade policy of the European Union (EU) and an immediate follow-up to several years of regulatory cooperation between the two global trade powers. In an era of megaregionals, services in the only area where significant negotiating traction exists at the bilateral and multilateral level. From an EU viewpoint, services is a key sector in these negotiations. As expected, the EU Commission, backed by the EU executive, has advanced an ambitious agenda and conditional offer to the US, hoping for further liberalization on the two sides of the Atlantic. Importantly, these negotiations are expected not only to generate additional liberalization, but should also reshape the regulatory philosophy as far as the regulation of trade in services is concerned. Against this backdrop, this article offers a critical account of the current TTIP negotiations relating to trade in services from an EU perspective. When needed, the article draws parallels with other EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Services Policies in Transition Economies
Services Policies in Transition Economies

Author: Felix Eschenbach

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13:

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"The authors analyze the extent to which the EU-15 and 16 transition economies used the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to commit to service sector policy reforms. They compare GATS commitments with the evolution of actual policy stances over time. While there is substantial variance across transition economies on both actual policies and GATS commitments, the authors find an inverse relationship between the depth of GATS commitments and the "quality" of actual services policies as assessed by the private sector. In part this can be explained by the fact that the prospect of EU accession makes GATS less relevant as a commitment device for a subset of transition economies. But for many of the non-EU accession candidates, the WTO seems to be a weak commitment device. One explanation is that the small size of the markets concerned generates weak external enforcement incentives. The authors' findings suggest greater collective investment by WTO members in monitoring and the need for transparency to increase the benefits of WTO membership to small countries. "--World Bank web site.