32 Amendments of Carl SCHLYTER related to 2008/2004(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the European Union is the most competitive actor regarding trade in services; whereas the Union is the world's largest exporter and the biggest service provider with more than 28% of the world total export and therefore has a strong interest in ensuring that new markets for goods, services and investments are opeexisting market openness is maintained,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas services are only partly tradable and therefore cannot be compared to trade in goods; whereas trade in services so far onlhowever already amount to 25% of world trade; whereas the sector has a huge potential and a lot to be gained from liberalised trade in services; whereas more jobs are created in this sector than in any other sector of the economy,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas services, especially in sectors such as health, education and business support, contribute decisively to the basic functioning and the social fabric of a society; whereas, with information technology advancing rapidly, an increasing percentage of service jobs not requiring personal presence becomes subject to offshore outsourcing; whereas the liberalisation of trade in services therefore is a sensitive issue in most countries,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the multilateral trading system, embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO), remains the most effective framework for achieving fair and equitable trade in goods on a global basis, by developing appropriate rules and ensuring compliance with those rules; whereas the role of the WTO with regard to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has to take into account the different nature of the services sector which does not lend itself to quantitative measurements of its degree of liberalisation or remaining barriers to trade,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas GATS is and must be the multilateral framework for the regulation of trade in services; whereas this does not prohibit states and notably the EU from negotiating bilateral agreements which have further reaching schedules of specific commitments, taking however into account that bilateral agreements may impact negatively on the advancement and importance of the multilateral framework,
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas an efficient services infrastructure is a precondition for economic suceconomic development is a precondition for the development of efficient servicess; whereas access to world-class services helps exporters and producers of goods and services in developing countries to capitalise on their competitive strength; whereas a number of developing countries have also been able, building on foreign investment and expertise, to advance in international services markets; whereas services liberalisation has thus become a key element of manyn option in development strategies,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the WTO's agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) are frameworks setting out the conditions for trade in goods; whereas obstacles to trade and behind- the-border barriers not only damage trade in goods but also significantly affect trade in services and public procurementin the services sector are principally dealt with in the framework of the GATS Article VI on Domestic Regulation, relating especially to disciplines with regard to service standards and licensing requirements, and GATS Article XVI on market access, relating especially to quantitative and qualitative measures,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that developed countries and trade blocs such as the EU cannot and should not impose a one-size-fits-all model on other countrihow to precisely regulate their domestic service sectors on other countries, given that services have different meanings in different cultures and serve different national development objectives at different times;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Is concerned, in this regard, about the draft on new domestic disciplines proposed by the Chair of the WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation in January 2008 which proposes to move non-discriminatory domestic regulation from its current green light status under the GATS Article VI to "yellow light" status, thus creating legal uncertainty in an area that is already a difficult environment for national regulation;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Is alarmed by some of the proposed new disciplines in the draft of January 2008 that would weaken the regulatory authority of governments, particularly sub-national governments, and subject regulatory autonomy to rules aimed at minimising trade restrictive effects, thus creating new grounds on which non- discriminatory regulations might be challenged;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Calls on the Commission to not support the proposed deletion of the recognition of the right to regulate in order to meet sub-national as well as national objectives, the proposed imposition of ever more onerous requirements to submit to the WTO “detailed information” on regulations, and the proposed narrowing of requirements to only consult “service suppliers” instead of all “interested persons” on regulations, which could have the effect of excluding all but commercial interests from reviewing new regulations;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Warns that the right to regulate and to introduce new regulations, and in general the degree of regulatory diversity that is needed globally, would inevitably be curtailed by new disciplines requiring WTO members to ensure that licensing and qualification procedures are “as simple as possible”, that those wishing to supply services can only be required to approach “one competent authority”, and that international standards are to be taken into account when formulating national or sub-national technical standards;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5e. Is aware that the newly proposed disciplines on domestic regulation would be added in the form of an annex to the GATS requiring an amendment to the agreement; calls on the Commission to keep the Parliament informed about the proceedings of the GATS Working Party on Domestic Regulation and to submit any decision about an amendment to the GATS Agreement to Parliament under the codecision procedure;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Suggests that the efficiency gains that could be obtained thanks to opening markets to services competition wcould allow less developed countries to provide services in areas that would otherwise be out of reach for the state due to its limited resources; considers that in this regard as much emphasis should be placed on government failure as is put on market failurethe universality of service delivery, its affordability for the poorer sections of populations and its sustainability over time which might outweigh efficiency gains through market opening;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls Article XIX of the GATS stating that members shall enter into successive rounds of negotiations, beginning not later than five years from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement and periodically thereafter, with a view to achieving a progressively higher level of liberalisation; recalls that such negotiations shall be directed to the reduction or elimination of the adverse effects on trade in services of measures as a mtake place in the frame of the single undertaking principle and therefore have to be balanced against interests put forward in other areans of providing effective market accesnegotiations;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Takes note of the pressure frominterest of developing countries ondirected especially towards the EU and US to improve offers in Mode 4; considers it necessary to find the right balance in order to satisfy both sides;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. SupportsTakes note of the results achieved in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Caribbean Forum of ACP States (CARIFORUM); encourages the Commission to negotiate a similar ambitious chapter on services with the African regions and the Pacific region as envisaged in the interim agreements; believes that trade in services is a vehicle for development in these regions too; stresses the importance for the EU to cooperate and provide aid by establishing instruments andbelieves that trade in services is a vehicle for development subject to the condition that sound and transparent domestic regulations to govern services are in place;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls seriously into question the fact that the CARIFORUM EPA applies to the regulation of services and investments at all levels of decision making, including village councils and non-governmental bodies exercising delegated powers, while the GATS only requires states to take ‘reasonable steps to ensure compliance’ at lower levels;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Is concerned that in the CARIFORUM EPA the EC has narrowed the ‘right to regulate’ further than the GATS requires, by determining that regulation has to meet 'legitimate policy objectives’, though ‘legitimate’ is not defined and might exclude social or public service objectives; is equally concerned that the EPA does not contain safeguard provisions which would allow states to suspend their commitments if their domestic services or providers were threatened by a sudden influx from the EU;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Notes that Title II of the CARIFORUM EPA combines investments in services and non-services activities, and thus extends GATS-style rules of ‘national treatment’ and ‘market access’ to foreign investment in non-services activities; is concerned that foreign investors are only required to consult local communities ‘where appropriate’ and when doing so does not impair their expected benefits from commitments made under the agreement, while there is no comparable concern for human rights, despite numerous reports from the UN Commission on Human Rights that agreements on trade in services have serious potential to undermine fundamental human rights;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Is concernedaware with regards to the negotiation of the EU-Korea FTA about the difficulties that foreign firms face in gaining access to the Korean market for services including banking, insurance, telecommunications, news agencies and legal advice; urges the Commission to take into account growing concerns also in the EU about the crisis-prone effects of a banking and insurance sector whose pace of liberalisation was not accompanied by sound and transparent domestic regulation when addressing this issue in the negotiations on the FTA;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses with regards to the negotiation of the EU-India FTA the importance of our partnership with India and the need to get increased accto a balanced agreement, recognising India Government interests to the Indian marketwith regard to Mode 4 openings and EU interests in areas such as financial services, telecommunications, distribution, postal and courier, and legal services;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Is concerned about the Commission's far reaching demands on India with regard to the opening of its financial service sector in the context of the bilateral requests in the GATS negotiations, including a request that money reserves for lending do not need to be located in the country itself by foreign owned bank branches; recalls from past experience, especially the financial crisis in Argentina in 2001, that there is no guarantee that parent banks transfer the necessary financial reserves in times of financial crisis in a country in which they do not hold reserves; reminds the Commission to follow the recommendations of the Financial Stability Forum ("Enhancing market and institutional resilience", April 2008) with regard to capital requirements and cross- border liquidity;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Is aware that India has banned futures trading in key agricultural commodities over concerns that speculation has caused sharp increases in the price of food staples; reminds the Indian negotiators that this ban could be challenged under the FTA or the GATS dispute settlement procedures once India has made commitments on these financial services;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Takes note of the latest study by the World Bank showing that in some countries, such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda more than 40 % of people in the lowest economic quintile receive their health care from private, for profit providers; underlines the necessity of investments being made in this sector in order to meet these needs; stresses furthermore that problems with inconsistent levels of care, inefficiency, and unethical business practthe EU should support the development of sound domestic rules for the service sectors in these countries in order to enable them to open up their services must be addressed adequately; arkets at a later stage;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes that no WTO member has yet made any commitments on the water distribution sector due to the utmost sensitive nature of the issue; recognises that most if not all examples of water provision through foreign private providers have failed to live up to required access, price and quality criteria; recalls nonetheless, that any state is free to do so should it consider itself unable to provide the service which its citizens need; stresses that should a such commitment be made it does not prohibit the state fromrequires prior established domestic rules setting levels of quality, safety, price or other policy objectives as they see fsuch as universalit,y and the same regulations would apply to foreign suppliers as to local supplierrequirements for foreign providers to invest also in water distribution infrastructure in more distant and rural areas;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes that, on the basis of prior established sound and transparent domestic regulation, a cautious and phased opening up of the market in financial services in developing countries may offers citizens and entrepreneurs access to funds in order to create local jobs and alleviate poverty since they are no longer forced to rely on state monopolies or institutions with links to ruling elites;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Calls on the Commission, in the light of the current financial crisis, to withdraw its request to Brazil, Chile and India and other countries to liberalise according to the far-reaching GATS' Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services' which requires that foreign financial service providers be given permission to introduce any kind of new financial service, until the FSF has made precise recommendations about the required regulatory supervision;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)
Paragraph 25 c (new)
25c. Calls on the "Friends of Financial Services" led by Canada to withdraw, in the light of the current financial crisis, their request on various developing countries to permanently open their markets for trade in "derivative products including, but not limited to, futures and options", as well as investment banking and asset management, given that these products are not yet adequately regulated, thereby contributing to financial instability;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 d (new)
Paragraph 25 d (new)
25d. Calls especially on raw materials producing developing countries to not engage in new commitments in financial services which would prevent them from intervening in their domestic financial markets to curb speculative activities and financial products, including derivative trading in commodities and food in times of crises and rising prices;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 e (new)
Paragraph 25 e (new)
25e. Warns against the further weakening of prudential measures in the financial service sector through proposed language in the GATS Working Party on Domestic Regulation requiring service regulations to be made "as simple as possible”, thus increasing the uncertainty on whether measures that are introduced to avoid a financial crisis and adapt a country to changing circumstances might be considered as restrictions to trade;