Operation 'Gifts for Pascal Lamy'

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday December 15, 2002 20:03 by Ciaran Mc Kenna - Attac Ireland ireland at attac dot org c/o 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2 041 9802387

Report on the recent action by Attac Belgium, MEPs, Belgian postal workers and Public Services International to highlight the lack of transparency in the ongoing GATS negotiations at the World Trade Orgnaisation.

11 December 2002 Operation Gifts for Pascal Lamy

On Wednesday 11 December 2002, members of the European Parliament
(Yasmine Boudjenah, Harlem Désir, Anne Ferreira, Glyn Ford, Caroline
Lucas, Roseline Vachetta, Olga Zrihen), representatives of ATTAC, of the Belgian Postal Workers and of the world-wide union federation Public Services International delivered more than 200 gift parcels to the Brussels headquarters of European
Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. Groups from all over Europe sent the parcels, decorated with campaign materials denouncing the General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS] in order to "compensate" the Commissioner for all the gifts he is giving in the name of Europeans to our trading partners, while informing neither parliamentarians or citizens themselves.

The Commissioner received a delegation made up of four MEPs [Harlem Desir (PES,France); Caroline Lucas (Greens, UK) ; Yasmine Boudjenah (GUE/NGL, F); and Glyn Ford (PES, UK)] who presented him with a parliamentarian's Call signed by 105 MEPs demanding transparency in the GATS negotiations and the protection of European public services. They were accompanied by Susan George, Vice-President of
Attac France and by Jan-Willem Goudriaan, representing Public Services International, all of whom arrived with a sample "gift" in hand. Commissioner Lamy in turn gave them a gift-parcel which he said contained "reliable information" but which unfortunately contained only documents they already had, not the ones they had called for again and again, to no avail--which was precisely the reason they were there.

The GATS mandates a "series of negotiations" which must always move towards greater market opening, i.e. "progressive liberalisation". The GATS definition of public services is so narrow that its "disciplines apply to all public services if they are supplied "on a commercial basis" [from the postage stamp to the train ticket] or "in competition with one or more services suppliers [e.g. private schools or hospitals].

Commissioner Lamy, while claiming that he intends to preserve European public services, categorically refused to communicate to parliamentarians or citizens the basis for the forthcoming GATS negotiations. The "requests" for market access were sent out to trading partners on 30 June ; these partners also addressed their "requests" to the EU. Thanks to leaks, it is known that the EU has asked its major partners for total
or partial liberalisation of many public services including the post office, supply and treatment of water, energy, transportation, and scientfic research. At this rate, Southern countries will never have an opportunity to develop their public services.

In the present phase of "offers", each country must, on the basis of the "requests" received, tell its trading partners which sectors it is prepared to open to the transnational corporations of other countries. These "offers" will also be kept secret.
Parliamentairians will be allowed to say "yes" or "no" in 2005 when the negotiations have been completed.

In these circumstances, the unions, ATTAC and dozens of other European NGOs have no choice but to continue their campaign in favour of democracy, transparency and public services against the threat of the GATS. The Belgian Social Forum has called for a mass
demonstration in Brussels on 9 February; other European countries will follow with activities planned for 13 -16 March 2003. Europeans believe they are fighting not just for themselves but for citizens the world over.