WTOGATS: Trade in Higher Education

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WTO-GATS Trade in Higher Education
Nikki Heerens Member Executive Committee
Nikki_at_esib.org
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Funding of Higher Education

• Government funds
• Tuition fees (sometimes)

Government
student
Institution
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Public Universities

• Right - Funding
• Student grants/loans/support
• Duty - good quality education
• - subject of government goals and policies

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What is the WTO?

• WTO (World Trade Organisation) established in
  1995
• 144 countries are member
• GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• TRIPS Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
• GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services

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Goal of the WTO

• The goal is to help producers of goods and
• services, exporters, and importers conduct their
• business

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What is the GATS-Treaty?

• GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services
• This treaty-under-construction has started to
  function in 1995
• Goal of the GATS-treaty
• Services have to be made tradable.
• GATS-treaty is a kader with general and specific
  obligations

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But what are services?

• Everything that cannot fall on your feet
• Exempted from GATS services, supplied in the
  exercise of governmental authority
• Prerequisites - Not on commercial basis
• - Not in competition with other
  service providers

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Education in GATS?

• Higher Education is part of the GATS-treaty
• Are public universities exempted?
• -commercial basis
• - in competition with other institutions

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Horizontal Commitments

• General applied on all services under GATS
• Most Favoured Nation non-discrimination of any
  foreign country

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4 Modes of providing Higher Education services in
GATS

• Cross-border supply
• Consumption abroad
• Commercial presence
• Movement of natural persons

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Vertical Commitments

• Specific, negotiated per service sector.
• National Treatment same rights for foreign and
  domestic companies/institutes
• Market Access free access for all new providers
  (foreign and domestic).

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What are possible consequences of GATS?

• Public funding
• - unlegitimate trade barriers?
• - funding also for foreign Universities?
• Result
• Less money for public education?
• Loss of less cost efficient study programs?

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Foreign institutions/TNE

• - Tuition fees?
• Selection schemes?
• Student participation?
• Quality assurance?

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Foreign institutions/TNE

• - Tuition fees?
• Selection schemes?
• Student participation?
• Quality assurance?
• ?Dispute Settlement Panel (DSP)

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How the negotiations take place

• Trade ministers
• Bilateral negotiations, multilateral results
• EU, US and Japan as important actors
• Lack of transparency, information and involvement

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Time schedule negotiations

• Second round of negotiations started in Doha,
  2001
• June 2002 countries had to present their lists
  with requests and possible offers
• March 2003 countries started negotiations with
  each other
• January 2005 renewed GATS-treaty signed as a
  package deal

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Negotiation issues

• What are trade barriers?
• What is unacceptable subsidizing?
• Opening up of more borders, making more specific
  commitments (progressive liberalizations)

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Issues under discussion

• Is Higher Education tradable or a public good?
• Is public education protected in GATS?
• To what extend is democratic control possible?
• Can GATS help in improvement of Higher Education
  and the knowledge base of society?