Leaked copies of the
European Commission’s (EC) aggressive requests to more than 100 countries
involved in the GATS negotiations were posted on the website of Canadian NGO,
Polaris Institute in Ottawa today.
“These leaks are as
significant as those that spelled the ‘beginning of the end’ for the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI),” says Professor Jane Kelsey on
behalf of ARENA (Action, Research and
Education Network of Aotearoa).
“No one should
under-estimate the panic it will create at the WTO, as people learn what their
governments have been asked to give away to Europe’s transnationals.
“We believe that the
‘Dracula principle’ (the killing of obnoxious agreements by exposing them to
the light of day), could bring the GATS negotiations to a standstill.
“The message to the WTO and
to the New Zealand government is crystal clear. People everywhere, even within the ranks of government and the
WTO, recognise these secret negotiations are anti-democratic. They are increasingly prepared to put their
jobs on the line to let the world know what is really happening.
“It must be obvious by
now" Kelsey says, "that despite obsessive WTO secrecy, these leaks
will continue. Surely it is better to concede the public’s right to know than
to continue the cloak and dagger style of negotiations that show utter contempt
for democracy and national sovereignty?”
Given that the EC’s requests
are fully public, suggests Kelsey, other countries including New Zealand should
also release their secret requests.
“We already know from
another leaked document that New Zealand has demanded the EC remove its
protection for public services and public utilities. Somehow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade forgot to tell
us this in its summarized GATS ‘consultation’ document.
“We should know what else
the New Zealand Government is asking other governments to do – especially
poorer countries – and how these measure up to the reassurances the Government
has been giving." Kelsey says
other countries' actual demands to New Zealand to remove protection for
national services should also be opened for public examination.
“Releasing the full text of
the requests would be just the first step. It’s time that democracy took
precedence over secret negotiations that promote the right of transnational
companies to profit from other countries’ basic services,” Professor Jane
Kelsey says.
It was the Ottawa-based
Polaris Institute who secured and released the leaked draft of the Multilateral
Agreement on Investment in 1997, which forced open and eventually sunk the MAI.
The leaked EC demands can be seen at www.polarisinstitute.org
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Contact Professor Jane
Kelsey by ringing 021 765 055.