Doha Negotiations on Services Trade: Consequences of the Nice Treaty Reform and the Constitutional Treaty

Abstract

This paper addresses the current WTO negotiations on trade in services in the framework of the Doha Development Agenda. It analyses the implications that these services trade negotiations have for the European Community (EC) in the world trading system in the light of the Nice Treaty and the draft Constitutional Treaty. It also analyses the consequences of both the Nice Treaty reform and the draft Constitutional Treaty in relation to trade in services as it appears in the new version of Article 133 of the Nice Treaty and Article III-217 of the Constitutional Treaty. The position of the EC in the WTO generally, and in the Doha Development Agenda more specifically, as well as the trade position adopted by the EC and its Member States in international trade negotiations, is explored. Do the Nice Treaty and the draft Constitutional Treaty change anything to trade in services? What is the impact of the Nice Treaty and the draft Constitutional Treaty on trade in services? What are the practical consequences of all these changes both for the EC and its Member States? The paper concludes with some policy recommendations in the context of the Nice Treaty reform and the draft Constitutional Treaty.

Keywords: Doha negotiations, trade in services, Nice Treaty, Constitutional Treaty

JEL Classification: K33