ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how trade agreements and, in particular the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), might enhance services trade. It looks at the limitations of free trade initiatives due to the inherent nature of some services and, especially, public services. Indeed, the creation of a single market under the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and subsequent directives, like the 2006 services directive to free up trade in services, bear witness to successive waves of trade liberalisation. However, the size and scope of liberalisation in services is much greater in the TTIP. Moreover, the implications for governance of public services and the number of stakeholders defending public interests is also a specific feature of new generation trade deals. The debate on public services, as part of mega trade deals, does indeed seem to reveal subtle conflicts between different regional and cultural regulatory traditions. Such cultural perspectives will be mainly viewed through a European lens.
