The Scope Of Gats V: Towards More Flexibility For The South

In Short

Preferential services trade has seen a veritable boom in the last decade, particularly in the South. The related infringement of the principle of most-favoured nation (MFN) is regulated in GATS Article V, which attributes more flexibility in deviating from MFN to developing countries. This presentation, as part of an ongoing PhD Project on ‘South–South Preferential Trade in Services’, discusses the different ways and means to allow for sustainable – and GATS compliant – preferential services trade among developing countries.

Why Gats Article V Matters

Commitments in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) in services range from simply adding services to goods trade, to committing to substantial liberalisation beyond the scope of the commitments under the GATS. GATS V, which provides the conditions for concluding PTAs in services, has not yet been discussed in-depth in scholarly articles, nor has it been elaborated by case-law. Thus, to date, the scope of GATS V remains relatively unknown territory, which is particularly discouraging for lawyers in developing countries.

The Suggestion

With respect to the particular case of economic integration in services trade in the South, the GATS provides for a number of specific rights and allowances amounting to a form of more favourable treatment: 1) the positive list approach, 2) the provisions of GATS V:3 and GATS V:6, and 3) the overall objective of development (preamble). This presentation argues for more flexibility in the interpretation of ‘number of sectors’, allowing for South–South PTAs in services, which include only a limited number of sectors. Too much flexibility, however, is attributed to the term ‘substantially all trade’, particularly in the services sectors which matter most for sustainable economic development. Therefore, GATS V has to differentiate the flexibility in sectors from the flexibility in commitments with respect to South–South PTAs.

Biography of the speaker

Charlotte started her PhD in law on South–South preferential trade in services in 2009 and is enrolled at the University of Bern. The PhD is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and part of wider research being conducted within the framework of the National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) Trade Regulation. She is supervised jointly by Prof. Thomas Cottier and Ass. Prof. Marion Panizzon.

Charlotte obtained her MLaw at the Universities of Bern and Fribourg, Switzerland in 2008 and continued her studies at the University of Manchester, UK where she graduated in 2009 with an MA in Development Studies. She has written about the enforcement of freedom of speech in Russia, the legal protection of people with albinism in Tanzania, Sino-African investments and the role of services trade in circular migration.

Aside from studies and research, Charlotte was a co-founder and chairwoman of the Swiss pro-european youth organisation ‘young european swiss – yes’, a leader of the youth campaign for the the EU-Swiss Agreement on free movement of persons and has worked for a small law firm in Zurich.