The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is a trade agreement currently being negotiated by 23 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The EU negotiates on behalf of all 28 EU member states. The other twenty-two countries and territories outside the EU that are taking part are: Australia, Canada, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States of America. Together, these countries account for 70% of world trade in services.
TiSA aims at opening up markets and improving rules in areas such as licensing, financial services, telecoms, e-commerce, maritime transport, and workers moving abroad temporarily to provide services. The EU’s position on protecting public services in the TiSA negotiations can be found on the EU Commission’s website at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/tisa/questions-and-answers/
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Also published on the EU Commission’s website are documents that have been tabled by the EU in the negotiations, which clearly exclude public services. These documents can be found at the following link: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1133.
Ireland fully supports the EU’s approach in the TiSA negotiations. The exports of services are very important to the Irish economy. Last year, the value of Ireland’s exports of services reached a new record of almost €95b; and with services imports worth €89b, Ireland had a trade surplus of €6b for trade in services in 2013. An ambitious outcome in the TiSA negotiations is therefore very important for our economy.
The TiSA will be an Agreement within the meaning of Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution. Ratification by Ireland will therefore be subject to prior approval of Dáil Éireann.
