Re: scan: GATS: ...As a Political Project (informative)

GATS AS A POLITICAL PROJECT

By Christina Deckwirth

[This article published in: Z: Journal of Marxist renewal, 3/21/2005 is 
translated from the German on the World Wide Web, 
http://www.linksnet.de.artikel.php?id=1572.]

“Water is a product that would normally be free, and our job is to sell 
it.” (Gerard Mestrallet, Suez)

“One of the main objectives of the EU (European Union) in the new round 
of the [GATS] negotiations is to achieve real and meaningful market 
access for European service providers for their exports of environmental 
services. Therefore we very much appreciate your input to focus our 
negotiating efforts in the area of environmental services.”
(Email of the EU commission to four European water corporations)

These quotations of executives of the largest water corporations of the 
world on one side and the EU commission on the other reveal the 
interests in the GATS process. The goal of GATS (General Agreement on 
Trade in Services) is promoting worldwide liberalization in trade and 
investments in the service sector. The EU commission and the European 
service industry join forces in the current GATS negotiations.

GATS was first made known to the general public through protests that 
were initiated by Attac and supported by unions, church groups and other 
political development and student groups. The criticism of these groups 
is mainly directed against the possible effects of GATS on public 
services and the intransparency of the negotiations. The other side of 
“civil society” has long waged campaigns for GATS. Several influential 
economic lobby associations and scientific research institutes first set 
the theme of international service trade on the political agenda and 
negotiated a service agreement within GAYY or the WTO. In the years 2001 
to 2003, the anti-GATS and the pro-GATS campaigns struggled over the 
intellectual and moral “leadership” in public discourse.

This essay will first sketch the characteristics of GATS and then 
analyze its political significance. Following the theoretical debates of 
neo-Gramscianism and Vivien Schmidt’s reflections on discourse theory, 
the influence of private sector strategies and discourses on the GATS 
negotiation will be explored. Discourses and ideas can strengthen and 
transform the neoliberal configuration through the political project GATS.

cont'd...
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/10/1775871.php