The service sector in the free-trade agreement between the EU and Singapore: closing the gap between policy and business realities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate how new rules and practices in multilateral, regional and bilateral trade negotiations related to the services industries can be adopted and implemented at the business level, using the recently concluded free-trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the EU and Singapore as an illustrative case. The purpose is to put the services sector into the larger framework of business service interaction between the EU and the outside world by identifying crucial subsectors within the services industries and their relations to physical, 'visible' production and trade. Furthermore, to assess the prospects of 'multilateralising' regional trade agreements within the service sector, through the ambitions by both parties to make bilateral and interregional FTAs and EPAs more compatible and mutually comparable with the multilateral GATS' rules. The EU-Singapore FTA is an agreement that became a 'second-best' solution of the stalled interregional EU-ASEAN negotiation, taking place 2006-2009. It can nevertheless be seen as a 'WTO-plus' endeavour, since it aims at reaching beyond what is under negotiation in the likewise stalled Doha Development Agenda within the WTO framework, particularly in the fields of business services, public procurement, intellectual property rights, trade-related investment measures, and, generally, competition rules. Since both parties already apply low or zero tariffs in most sectors of manufacturing, the main issues in the negotiations were related to services in general and knowledge-intensive business services in particular, with an emphasis on technical barriers to trade. To what extent will there be a true mutual opening up of the service markets between the two parties as a result of the agreement, and what technical and mental barriers remain? This FTA, if successfully implemented, can also pave the way for a revitalisation of the 'paused' EU-ASEAN talks, in which Asia Eur J (2017) 15:75-105

The Eu-Japan Epa and the Question of Formal and Informal Trade Barriers for European Businesses in Japan

“…A further push for Japan was the rapid pace at which two other Asian neighbours, Singapore and Vietnam, concluded FTA negotiations with the EU. These FTAs served as models to later negotiations (Alvstam et al 2017, Cuyvers 2014, Pollet-Fort 2011.…”

Unión Europea y Japón: ¿El tratado de libre comercio más grande del mundo?

“…Todo lo anterior, es en buena medida una importante razón por la cual los TLC, parecen tomar un importante protagonismo, cuando las decisiones dentro del sistema multilateral de comercio no se hacen manifiestas del modo esperado; puesto que los mismos, permiten que los países miembros interesados logren concertar y regular una multiplicidad de temas concretos en materia comercial, que por motivos políticos estiman tardar demasiado dentro de la OMC, cuando las negociaciones de las conferencias ministeriales no logran llegar a finalizar satisfactoriamente (Alvstam, Kettunen y Ström, 2017).…”

Free Trade Agreements and Responsible Business: Examples from the EU’s Bilateral Agreements in East and Southeast Asia

“…The topic is timely because of the accelerated pace at which FTAs are negotiated, signed and enforced, and because they are becoming more comprehensive, yet their contents have raised concern among consumers and the larger civil society alike. Between 2011 and 2018, trade agreements have been concluded particularly in 2 East and Southeast Asia, which is the case also for bilateral FTAs of the European Union (EU) (Ahnlid 2012;Alvstam et al 2017;Alvstam 2012a and2012b). The EU has signed an FTA with South Korea, concluded negotiations with Singapore and Vietnam, concluded an agreement in principle with Japan, and is negotiating with several others in the region.…”