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Last week our Steering Group adopted the position paper “Preserving Services of General Interest in trade agreements”.

It might not be apparent why social NGOs are working on trade agreements. In this article we will explain why we have been looking at them.

The EU is negotiating important bilateral trade agreements with third countries, such as the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It also participates in multilateral trade agreement negotiations like the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), which has a very broad scope. The aim of free trade agreements is to remove trade barriers in a wide range of economic sectors, including services and Services of General (Economic) Interest – SG(E)I (also referred to as “public services”). Therefore, these agreements are going to have an impact on the provision, financing and organisation of many SG(E)I. Although EU trade policy is inextricably linked to the global context, the preamble to the World Trade Organisation agreement makes it clear that trade and investment are not goals in themselves, but rather means to raise standards of living and improve well-being.

Social Platform has been working on SG(E)I since its foundation twenty years ago. We have been advocating towards the European institutions to ensure that European Union processes recognise the specific roles, objectives and features of these services, for the well-being of people living in Europe, as well as social cohesion and economic value. Our focus has mainly been on social, health, education and water services of general interest, on which our members have expertise, both as organisations representing service users and providers of SG(E)I.

These services provided directly to the person are essential for the fulfilment of basic EU objectives, such as the achievement of social, economic and territorial cohesion, social inclusion, high levels of employment and of public health, and economic growth. They are key instruments for the safeguarding of fundamental human rights and human dignity, important determinants of public health and the contribute to ensuring the creation of equal opportunities for all by reducing existing inequalities, therefore enhancing the capacity of individuals to fully participate in society.

Social Platform considers that these services should be accessible to all residents (not just EU citizens) to foster their full participation in society, and not just to residents who are most in need. Access to such services should be guaranteed for all.

The European Commission states that the approach taken by the EU in protecting public services in free trade agreements has never created problems over the last twenty years. In this paper, Social Platform highlights that the approach taken so far is insufficient to fully protect SG(E)I in a way that ensures legal certainty. We also call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States to consider our requests and to engage in a constructive dialogue with civil society in the ongoing negotiations.

Our main requests are the following:

• Exclude all social services, and health, education and water services of general interest, regardless of whether they are publicly or privately funded.
• Base TTIP and TiSA negotiations on the acquis of EU secondary legislation that recognises the specific objectives, roles and characteristics of Services of General (Economic) Interest.
• Do not use any form of investment protection (e.g. Investor-State Dispute Settlement – ISDS) in order to preserve the general interest.

If you want to learn more, please read our paper. We warn you: it is quite technical, due to the complexity of the issue! We will be working on a document that is more digestible.