WORLD TRADE S/C/N/27
9October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4106)
Original: English Council forTrade inServices
JOINT COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES AND ROMANIA
Notification pursuant toArticle V.7(a) ofthe
General Agreement onTrade inServices
Thefollowing joint communication hasbeen received from thedelegations oftheEuropean
CommunitiesandtheirMemberStatesandRomania.Thisjointcommunicationconstitutesthenotification
oftheEurope Agreement establishing anassociation between theEuropean Communities andtheir
Member States andRomania.
_______________
Pursuant toArticle Vparagraph 7(a)oftheGATS, theEuropean Communities andtheir Member
States, ontheonepart, andRomania, ontheother part, hereby notify the"economic integration
agreement"asinstitutedbytheEuropeAgreementconcludedbetweenthemselves.Theformalnotification,
made inaccordance with the"Guidelines fornotifications under theGeneral Agreement onTrade in
Services ",asadopted bytheCouncil forTrade inServices, isattached tothecommunication.
Tofacilitate theexamination bytheMembers, therelevant provisions ontrade inservices in
thisagreement have been identified inthenotification. ThefulltextoftheEurope Agreement where
these provisions canbefound, intheir original version, areavailable attheWTO Secretariat. TheEurope
Agreement ispublished intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities (L357, Volume 37,
31December 1994) andintheMonitorul Oficial alRomaniei (N73and73bis, 12April 1993) (Official
Journal ofRomania).S/C/N/27
Page2
1. Members notifying :
TheEuropean Communities andtheir Member States (15)
Romania
2. Notification under :
Article Vparagraph 7(a).
3. Date ofentry into force :
01.02.95
Duration :
Unlimited period oftime.
4. Agencies responsible forimplementation andenforcement ofmeasures :
Association Council, Parties 'legislative, regulatory andjudicial authorities.
5. Description ofthemeasures :
(a) Provisions intheEurope Agreement which arerelevant tothescope oftheGATS:
- Article 1-Objective;
- Title II-"General principles": Article 7;
- Title IV-Chapter 1:"Movement ofworkers"; Chapter 2"Establishment";
Chapter 3"Supply ofservices between theCommunity andRomania" and
Chapter 4"General provisions";
- Title V-Chapter 1:"Current payments andmovement ofcapital"; Chapter 2
"Competition andother economic provisions" andChapter 3"Approximation
oflaws";
- Title VI-"Economic cooperation", andinparticular Articles 72and74on
Investment promotion andprotection; Article 83onTransport; Article 84on
Telecommunication, postal services andbroadcasting; Article 85onBanking
insurance, other financial services andaudit cooperation; Article 90onTourism
andArticle 91onSmall andMedium-sized Enterprises;
- Title IX-"Institutional, general andfinal provisions".
(b) These provisions oftheEurope Agreement constitute anagreement liberalising trade
inservices between theEuropean Communities andtheir Member States, ontheone
part, andRomania, ontheother part, inthesense ofArticle V,paragraph 1,given that:
- itprovides foruniversal sectoral coverage ofallservice activities, subject to
agradual coverage ofsome services 'activities (seeArticle 45paragraph 1(i),
paragraph1(iii)),thetemporarilyexemptionunderArticle52(i.e.establishment
inairtransport services, inland-waterways transport services andmaritimeS/C/N/27
Page3
transport services) andtheexceptions under Articles 54and116. These
exclusions arefully consistent withtheexceptions provided forunder theGATS
andmore inparticular with theAnnex onAirTransport Services totheGATS,
Articles I.3(b),XIV andXIV bis;
- itprovides fortheliberalisation oftrade through allmodes ofsupply: "cross
border" trade, "consumption abroad", "commercial presence" (with orwithout
movement ofnatural persons) aswell as"presence ofnatural persons" (seein
particular Articles 38,42,43,45,49,53,56,57and60);
- itprovides fortheabsence orelimination ofsubstantially alldiscrimination
through elimination ofexisting discriminatory measures andprohibition ofnew
ormore discriminatory measures (seeinparticular Articles 38,45,46,56,57
and64);
- thetime-tablefortheprogressiveeliminationofexistingdiscriminatorymeasures
isreasonable: atransition period ofamaximum of10years (seeArticles 7and
45);
- thedegree ofliberalisation oftrade inservices between theCommunity and
itsMember States, ontheonepart, andRomania, ontheother part, goes beyond
therequirements anddisciplines oftheGATS inmany respects. Toachieve
fullnational treatment, additional disciplines andmeans ofliberalisation are
foreseen such as:mutual recognition ofqualifications; approximation oflaws;
behaviour ofmonopolies andexclusive service providers; restrictive business
practices; payments, transfers andfreemovement ofcapital.
(c) Consideration should alsobegiven, pursuant toArticle Vparagraph 2ofGATS, to
therelationship ofthisagreement tothewider process ofeconomic integration between
theEuropean Communities andtheir Member States, ontheonepart, andRomania,
ontheother part, provided forunder theEurope agreement. Economic integration is
notonly taking place inthefield ofservices, butalsoinrespect oftrade ingoods and
intheeconomic relations ingeneral. Inaddition, thisAgreement provides aframework
forRomania 'sgradual integration intotheEuropean Community.
6. Members specifically affected, ifany:
None. TheEuropean Communities andtheir Member States ontheonepart, Romania onthe
other part, have negotiated their Schedule ofSpecific Commitments andlistofMFN exemptions
during theUruguay Round. Theentry intoforce oftheEurope Agreement didnotimply any
modification oramendment inthese lists. TheEurope Agreement aims atfacilitating trade
between theParties. Noprovisions oftheEurope Agreement aimatraising thelevel of
restrictions oftrade inservices inrespect ofanyother WTO Member.
7. The fulltextoftheagreement isavailable from :
- theWTO Secretariat
- theEuropean Commission
- Romania.