Outcomes

Building on the OECD’s work on quantifying restrictions to services trade, the aims of project Identifying Opportunities in EU-Australia Trade in Services (EUOzTiS) were:

update previous compilations of knowledge about trade in services and the types of regulations that can impede or promote such trade;
identify key researchers working on services trade liberalisation and regulatory cooperation;
create accessible information for policy makers and trade negotiators;
increase understanding of trade negotiators regarding the nature of regulatory cooperation and regulatory friction;
expand the range of academic effort on liberalisation of services trade.

Events

Academic Workshop (24-26 July 2019)

Intensive academic workshop “Barriers to and Priorities for International Trade in Services” took place in Canberra on 24-26 July 2019. This workshop brought together academics, policy-makers, trade negotiators, data specialists and trade consultants for an intensive discussion on some of the most important barriers to trade in services. The Workshop explored the use of the OECD’s Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) as a tool for identifying priorities. The Workshop also reviewed the evidence from recently concluded EU trade treaties, including the Singapore, Canada and Japan treaties. Workshop participants focussed in on two particularly important service industries – education services and financial services.

Website: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/events/workshop-barriers-and-priorities-international-trade-services

Program: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2021/6/Trade_in_Services_Workshop_Program_24-26July2019.pdf

Workshop report on trade in financial services: https://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2019/10/TiS_Fincncial_Services_Workshop_Report.pdf

Workshop report on trade in educational services: https://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2019/10/TiS_Education_services_Workshop_Report.pdf

Selected presentations: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/events/workshop-barriers-and-priorities-international-trade-services

Policy Forum (6-7 November 2019, Melbourne)

Following from the successful 24-26 July 2019 Trade in Services Workshop held at the ANU Centre for European Studies (ANUCES), Canberra, the ANUCES co-sponsored, with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) a Conference at which the policy implications of the EUOzTiS project were disseminated. The ‘Europe in a Year of Transition: Challenges and Opportunities’ Conference, held on 6 and 7 November 2019 in Melbourne.

The conference sessions on Day One (6 Nov 2019), at which the policy implications of services trade project were discussed, were ‘Education in Europe’ and ‘Multinational Business and Investment in Europe: Roundtable’. Day 2 focused on disseminating the policy implications of the project and included the following sessions: ‘Services Trade: Opportunities and Challenges in the EU-Australia Treaty’, ‘EU and Member States: Challenges and Opportunities’, ‘Digital Transformations: EU and Australia (roundtable)’, ‘Brexit’, ‘The EU and Australia FTA’ and ‘Conclusion and Wrap up’.

Conference website: https://www.esaanz.org.au/events/conference-europe-in-a-year-of-transition-challenges-and-opportunities/

Policy Forum program: /sites/default/files/docs/2023/5/EU-Australia_Trade_in_Services_Policy_Forum.pdf

Policy Forum report: /sites/default/files/docs/2023/5/Report_on_Policy_Dissemination_Activities_Nov_2019_conference.pdf

Policy Forum (14 December 2022, Brussels and online)

The ANU Centre of European Studies (ANUCES), in collaboration with the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and European Services Forum (ESF), organized the Policy Forum: EU trade in services policy, on 14 December 2022 at BusinessEurope offices, 168 Avenue De Cortenbergh, Brussels, and online (Zoom).

Website: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/news/policy-forum-eu-trade-services-policy

Program: /sites/default/files/docs/2022/12/Trade_in_services_program.pdf

Speakers’ bios: /sites/default/files/docs/2022/12/Trade_in_services_bios.pdf

Selected presentations: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/news/policy-forum-eu-trade-services-policy

Additional resources: https://ces.cass.anu.edu.au/news/policy-forum-eu-trade-services-policy

Recording: coming soon

Visiting Fellows

Two scholars were appointed as Trade in Services Visiting Fellows who became key authors of the Briefing paper: Steve Nerlich and Sihui Ong. See their bios here.