9 WTO waiver on services for least developed
countries
| Committee's assessment |
Legally important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
|
| Document details | Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be taken within the Council for Trade in Services of the World Trade Organization on the acceptance of preferences notified by WTO Members as regards services and service suppliers of Least-Developed Country other than those described in Article XVI of the GATS
|
| Legal base | Articles 91, 100 and 207(4) TFEU, in conjunction with Article 218(9); consensus
|
| Department | Business, Innovation and Skills
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| Document Numbers | (37014), 11206/15, COM(15) 356
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
9.1 In 2011, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreed the so-called
The 'LDC Services Waiver', which allows members to waive the usual
non-discrimination rules by treating the exports of services from
the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in a preferential manner
compared with exports of services by other WTO members. However,
there has been a delay in putting this agreement into effect,
and some WTO members will now be offering preference to LDCs in
areas such as national treatment of businesses. As a result, there
will be a proposal at the WTO to extend the scope of the Waiver,
and this draft Council Decision would enable the EU to agree to
this.
9.2 As this document deals with a relatively straightforward
extension of the waiver on services granted by the WTO for the
least developed countries, it appears to be relatively straightforward
in policy terms.
9.3 We commend the Minister for Trade and Investment
(Lord Maude) and his officials for their vigilance in seeking
to guard against competence creep in the shared competence field
of transport. We note that the Decision may be adopted at the
end of September or early October when the House is in recess.
Whilst we welcome the Minister's approach of arguing that a second,
formal Member State vote will be required on this mixed agreement,
we would also urge him to seek to ensure that the mixed nature
of the agreement and the extent to which the EU is exercising
competence is clear on the face of the EU text.
9.4 We now clear this document, but request that
the Minister inform us as to the outcome of the Council meeting
in terms of voting procedure and any favourable amendment to the
text as we have suggested.
Full
details of the document:
Proposal for a Council
Decision establishing the position to be taken within the Council
for Trade in Services of the World Trade Organization on the acceptance
of preferences notified by WTO Members as regards services and
service suppliers of Least-Developed Country other than those
described in Article XVI of the GATS: (37014), 11206/15, COM(15)
356.
Background
9.5 In 2011, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreed
the so-called The 'LDC Services Waiver', which allows members
to waive the usual non-discrimination rules by treating the exports
of services from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in a preferential
manner compared with exports of services by other WTO members.
The current document
9.6 Because there has been a lack of progress in
realising the preferences, WTO Ministers agreed in December 2013
to 'operationalise' the Waiver by setting in place a process for
WTO members to make their offers. However, although the original
Waiver only stipulated that the WTO members could notify preferential
market access, some will now be offering preference to LDCs in
areas such as national treatment of businesses, and there will
therefore be a proposal at the WTO to extend the scope of the
Waiver. This draft Council Decision would enable the EU to agree
to this.
The Government's view
9.7 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 7 August 2015,
the Minister says the Government is minded to agree with this
Decision, as it will not bind the UK to any actions over and above
what has been agreed on the Waiver, but it will increase the scope
of the Waiver and therefore the benefits available to the LDCs.
However, he notes that the Commission has proposed that the Decision
should be based on Articles 91, 100 and 207(4), in conjunction
with Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union, and that Articles 91 and 100 relate to transport, which
is generally considered to be a shared competence. He says
that, in the UK's view, where transport articles are cited in
a proposal, this would ordinarily imply a mixed agreement, and
that it will argue that the proposed Decision covers areas of
Member State competence and, if appropriate, will argue for second
decisions of the representatives of the Member States meeting
in the Council.
Previous Committee Reports
None.
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