| 欧盟服务贸易协定（英） |
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| 2007-09-20 21:32 文章来源：WTO |
| 文章类型：转载 内容分类：政策 |
Services in EU agreements1
A comparison of FTAs concluded by the EU with third countries suggests there is a general trend towards liberalising trade in services. The ten agreements, or in some cases interim agreements, which the EU has signed with its Mediterranean (MED) partners, South Africa, Mexico and Chile differ significantly in terms of their scope and contents. However, they all follow the provisions set out in GATS Article V:1 relating to the further liberalisation of trade in services within economic integration agreements. Critically, Article V:1(a) requires such agreements to provide ‘substantial sectoral coverage’, while Article V:1(b) adds that they must provide ‘for the absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination […] between or among parties’.
However, the MED agreements are limited in their provisions on services liberalisation and also vary in their ambitions, partly due to the fact that not all MED partners are members of the WTO (Algeria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority) and therefore are no signatories to the GATS, though Algeria and Lebanon have applied for WTO membership. The agreement between the EU and South Africa, although potentially broader in scope than the MED agreements, contains a postponement of liberalisation for a period of at least five years. In contrast to the MED agreements, the GATS provisions on special and differential treatment for developing countries (Art. V:3) are clearly reiterated for South Africa. The FTAs with Mexico and Chile include significant provisions on liberalisation, including in the financial services sector and, in the agreement between the EU and Chile, also in telecommunications.
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