The International Services Agreement (ISA) – From the European Vantage Point

Services liberalisation has perhaps suffered from the deadlock of the WTO more than any other area of trade. As the discussions of a potential plurilateral agreement amongst a select group of countries continue, more questions are raised than answered. In a new policy brief by Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, he argues that approximately half of the trade costs are amongst those who are likely to join the plurilateral, while those in the other half – the emerging economies – remain unaddressed. For the EU however, China is the only player that is outside a plurilateral or FTA talks.