Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA): more rights for Europeans, fewer obstacles for our firms outside Europe

"Today's vote sends a strong signal to the European Commission. The message is crystal clear: if the negotiators respect all our recommendations (blue lines and red lines*), they will be engines for growth in Europe, sources of competitiveness for our firms and safety nets for European citizens", declared Viviane Reding MEP, European Parliament Rapporteur, after the vote on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiations, held today during the plenary session.

Launched in 2013 by 23 parties (with the EU counting as one), representing 70% of the international trade in services, the negotiations on TiSA aim at reinforcing the international rules and increasing the markets' openness in the area of digital, financial and transport services, among others. The European Parliament's official recommendations were adopted today and now have to be considered by the Commission for the rest of the negotiations, before the agreement comes back to the European Parliament for the final vote.

"I am proud to have gathered a large majority across the political spectrum with a view to drawing clear guidelines for the remaining negotiations. Driven by the EPP Group, the Parliament is united in requesting full transparency, fairer trade rules, more reciprocal market openings and more advantages for consumers. TiSA is an opportunity for Europe to prosper within our borders and to be strong outside the EU."

"The globalisation and digitalisation of our economies are facts. Therefore, the question is: do we want Europe to remain a duty-free continent and the rest of the world to be a lawless playground? The Parliament's answer is a loud and clear 'No'. We want to be standard-makers today, not standard-takers tomorrow", concluded Viviane Reding.

*Background:

The main blue lines are: granting tangible benefits to European consumers when they are travelling (vis-à-vis roaming charges) and when shopping online (vis-à-vis spam); unlocking the competitiveness of European firms, which are world leaders in the telecoms sector, maritime transport and financial services; support our SMEs, especially regarding the useless bureaucracy in third countries.

The main red lines are: the preservation of the right to regulate by European national or local authorities; the defence of our social and cultural model with the explicit exclusion of public and audio-visual services; the protection of our fundamental rights, and especially the protection of personal data.