Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for differences in the number of free trade agreements which include services entered into by the European Union and Switzerland respectively; and what plans they have to address the difference.

Switzerland and the European Union have entered into a significant number of free trade agreements. Switzerland has around 30 FTAs and the EU approximately 50. Services have been included in some of these agreements but not all.

The UK Government is a strong supporter of the inclusion of Services in free trade agreements, because it creates a more stable and transparent trading and investment environment for UK companies to export their Services to trading partner markets. This is why Services form a strong component in our modern trade agreements such as with Canada, Korea and Singapore. It will also feature strongly in the EU’s upcoming agreements with Vietnam and the United States (TTIP). Many of these agreement are very ambitious covering areas often not included in traditional agreements and reflecting the range of trade carried out by the EU.

The EU is committed to the inclusion on Services in its negotiations and has fully supported the establishment of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). The agreement is solely based on Services and derived from a concerted push by the services industry. TiSA is based on the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which involves all WTO members. More information on TiSA can be found on the following website http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/tisa/