arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

TRADE IN SERVICES LIBERALISATION AND GENDER IMPACTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Trade liberalisation is a process of systematically reducing all tariff and non-tariff barriers between countries and trading partners. Trade liberalisation is a global process affecting every country in the world. This global process is regulated by the World Trade organisation (WTO) established in January 1995.

The service sector was once considered a non-tradable sector. Under the WTO, however, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has established global rules on trade and investment in services. One justification for the inclusion of services in the WTO negotiations is the growth of services as a an economic sector over the last two decades and its importance in the development of countries (eg. Communication services, tourism and travel services, transport services, construction and distribution services.)

Under the universal most-favoured-nation (MFN) rule of the WTO, GATS requires every government to treat services and services suppliers of other members no less favourably than its own like services and service suppliers. Although governments can declare certain services as exempt from this MFN rule, such exemptions can be taken for only ten years and are subject of review after five years. Apart form the exemption, every government is required to submit a schedule list that identifies the services for which active access is guaranteed.

In the following paper we will briefly outline some of the impacts on women's livelihoods. For this purpose we have chosen three crucial areas of concerns related to the services sector:

• The labour market and women's working conditions in the services sector
• Education, as an example of a public service
• The information and communication technologies as an example of a private mainly market service.

1. GATS, the labour market and working conditions:

The Pay gap:
GATS, liberalisation and privatisation also have an impact on women's working conditions. Companies overall want to reduce costs and increase their competitiveness. Many companies are reducing costs by paying lower salaries to women than to men for work of equal value: in the EU women continue to earn between 15 and 33 per cent less than their male colleagues for the same work. Studies show that although the labour force participation rates with trade liberalisation are likely to increase for both women and men, the wage gap between them is not likely to be reduced and occupational segregation appears to remain strong.

Poverty:
Women make up the majority of those living below poverty levels and face a much higher risk than men of becoming poor. Thus they are under increased pressure to emigrate and try to find jobs abroad. Women are the care-givers and housekeepers and these factors limit their choices to emigrate and try to find better living conditions in other countries.

Flexible labour market:
When talking about other forms of discrimination in the labour market we have to take into account that women are pioneers in the new models of labour, as temps or as home based workers; they continue to account for four out of five part-time workers in the EU. For other women the consequences of liberalised trade can mean loss of labour rights: such as social benefits and the right to organize; given that women tend to be concentrated in low-wage industries their relative power also tends to be low.

2. GATS and Education:

Education is one of the public services that used to be well protected and was considered the responsibility of the state. Universal, free education represents one of the central pillars within the European Social model. The guarantee of a free and universal education system has always been at the core of the promotion of equal opportunities in Europe. The availability of primary and secondary school for all children, with more democratic access to university, has changed the lives of many individuals, in particular women, and led to a more open society in Europe.

Education and training are vital for developing equal opportunities throughout our society. If education systems do not challenge traditional stereotypes on the role of women and men, those stereotypes will continue to have a damaging influence. Education and training also constitute two of the main instruments in today's changing world in helping young people to face the challenges posed by the processes of globalisation.

The increase in privatisation and liberalisation of education could lead to a situation where the education system is more expensive and therefore more unjust and gender segregated. This might increase the number of women without access to free education, as they are in the weakest social positions.

The education services should never be the object of trade liberalisation according to the same rules that govern the trade with goods. Any liberalisation in relation to the provision of education service should not lead to the impoverishment of the service quality or to a restriction of access to education.

3. GATS and Telecommunications:

Telecommunications forms one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors. The sector is divided into two broad categories within the GATS: data transmission services, telex, telegraph, facsimile and leased circuits; and value-added services (eg. Electronic mail, voice mail on-line information and data base retrieval). The Fourth Protocol to the GATS on basic communications services sets out the rules for telecommunications, and deals with measures affecting access to, and the use of, public telecommunications transport networks and services. This excludes measures affecting the cable or broadcast distribution of radio or television programming.

As ICT markets become more liberalized they are increasingly controlled by enterprises, which set prices and standards, determine employment practices and control the choice of technology, as well as research and development.

This market structure has many implications for gender equality and human development and it affects rich and poor women differently. A number of processes within the telecommunications sector contribute to a continued uneven distribution of power between women and men, as well as their unequal access to resources. These processes might be found within the rules, routines and practices of telecommunications firms, within the markets for this type of goods and services and also related to individuals' and groups' consumption of Telecommunications services.

For many women though, market forces produce negative impacts other than expanded choices. Significantly, telecommunications goods and services are produced when they can be sold, not necessarily when they are needed. According to this, women are potential consumers who are unable to choose their preferences due to insufficient income, lack of skills, physical distance and other important factors. A liberalisation of these services can worsen this difficult situation.

This text is a personal selection of extracts from :

TRADE IN SERVICES LIBERALISATION AND GENDER IMPACTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Briefing paper prepared for the DG Trade Dialogue with civil society: Meeting of the Issue Group on Services, Brussels, September 2000

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