News

30th January 2003

John Bowis MEP visits Belsize Park to listen to the concerns of the World Development Movement

John Bowis - Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Belsize Park and the London region – was in Belsize Park on Saturday 25th January 2003 to listen to the concerns of the local branch of the World Development Movement. In particular John Bowis listened to their concerns about the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) – trade discussions instigated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that aim to liberalise global trade in services.

Speaking from Belsize Park, John Bowis said, “I very much welcomed the opportunity to listen to the concerns of the World Development Movement (WDM) regarding the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The WDM are concerned that the agreement does not fully help the needs of the poorest nations and is favoured too much in the interests of the developed world.”

John Bowis continued, “There is no doubt that trade liberalisation in services can bring real benefits to both the developed and the developing world. For example, the UK is the world’s 2nd largest exporter of services and the 4th largest importer. Thousands of British jobs – including many of those in London – are dependent on this trade and the opportunities that the opening of markets will bring. Whilst supporting the concept of GATS in principle, I recognise that there are genuine concerns in how it is carried out in practice and how we ensure that the beneficiaries are the people in the developing world as well as the service companies and agencies themselves. I shall be raising a number of issues with the Commission and Parliament to try to ensure a fair, progressive and effective system of GATS."