This week, the thirteenth round of ‘trade in services agreement’ talks in Geneva will focus on taking stock of three years of negotiations to open up services trade among 25 World Trade Organization members. In an exclusive interview with Iana Dreyer, MEP Viviane Reding shares an EU parliamentarian’s view on …
Services
TiSA Round 13: decision-time on key negotiating items
Negotiations towards a plurilateral trade in services agreement (TiSA) are entering a decisive moment as the 13th round of talks in Geneva this week is to determine what items to drop from the negotiating list. ID.
Opinion: Why services negotiations should become a priority in TTIP
The contribution of the services sector to value creation, jobs, the digital economy and SME development has long been underestimated, so has the importance of reducing barriers to international competition – in other words ‘trade’ – in the services sector. It is time to make services trade liberalisation a priority …
EU privacy rule overhaul and Safe Harbour talks hold back EU in TISA
Unfinished business in updating a bilateral agreement on data protection with the United States – Safe Harbour – and delays in finalising an overhaul of the EU’s data protection laws initiated three years ago have been holding back Brussels from tabling proposals on e-commerce and data flows in TiSA negotiations. By Iana Dreyer …
Blog – Study: Immigration boosts services sector exports
A country needs immigrants to be a competitive services exporter, a new economic study reveals.
Reviving EU ASEAN free trade talks – how to succeed this time round
The EU is considering reviving region-wide free trade negotiations with ASEAN. If Brussels is not to fail again in this endeavour as it did a few years ago, a fresh, flexible approach, to negotiations, respectful of local political realities, is overdue. The more so as the EU has significantly lost …
Blog: EU TiSA mandate – key take-aways
The mandate the EU member states gave to the Commission for the negotiations of TISA – declassified yesterday amidst great fanfare – is an exciting document. Slightly satirical personal quick notes by Iana Dreyer.
Comment: When will the EU’s ad-hoc approach to transparency in trade policy end?
EU member states are expected to give the green light to publishing the negotiationg mandate they gave to the Commission on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). This follows on a similar move on TTIP late last year. Now is time for EU institutions to abandon the ad hoc approach …
Blog: EU’s preferential services offer to least developed economies – devil in details
Last week’s EU initiative to offer preferential access to its services market to the least-developed-economies (LDCs) , mostly sub-Saharan African, which are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has created a buzz, and clearly is a positive move. Yet whether this is really a good offer for LDCs remains unclear: the sectors up for opening cited so far by …
New TiSA round in Geneva this week
The 11th round of negotiations towards the trade in services (TiSA) agreement among a subset of World Trade Organization (WTO) members has begun on Saturday. Our Geneva correspondent Ravi Kanth explains where the negotiations stand and what will be at stake this week. A clear asymmetry of demands between members is appearing, …
