Free trade agreements: Health care and social services are not for trading!

EPSU Standing Committtee on Health and Social Services adopted resolution on Free Trade Agreement

EPSU Standing Committtee on Health and Social Services adopted resolution on Free Trade Agreement

At its meeting of 22 September 2016 in Brussels, EPSU’s Standing Committee “Health and Social Services” adopted the Resolution “Free trade agreements: Health care and social services are not for trading!”

Based on an analysis of possible impacts of CETA and TTIP in the sector of health and social services the Standing Committee “Health and Social Services” calls for

  • The exclusion of public services, including health and social services, from trade agreements
  • Enforceable ILO core labour standards and a safeguarding of national, European and international labour and social standards as well as of collective agreements
  • Provisions to secure the power to shape policy and legal autonomy of the States in Europe
  • No special rights of action or arbitration tribunals for investors
  • Public procurement to be subject to the regulatory autonomy of the EU and the Member States and for the orientation of procurement practice towards the economically most advantageous tender
  • Immediate and full transparency and comprehensive democratic decision-making

The Resolution “Free trade agreements: Health care and social services are not for trading!” supplements other policy documents of EPSU on CETA, TTIP and TiSA. It takes into consideration findings and conclusions of the EPSU Working Paper “CETA and TTIP: Potential impacts on health and social services”  published in May 2016.

Contact:

  • Mathias Maucher, EPSU, Policy Staff “Health and Social Services”, Tel.: 0032 2 250 10 93, E-Mail: [email protected]
  • Patrick Orr, EPSU, Policy Assistant - Tax,  Tel.: 0032 2 250 10 47, E-Mail: [email protected]
  • Dr. Margret Steffen, ver.di Bundesverwaltung, Fachbereich Gesundheit, Wohlfahrt und Kirchen, Bereich Gesundheitspolitik, Tel.: 0049 30 6956 1811, E-Mail: [email protected] [contact in German] – President of EPSU’s SC HSS
  • Maryvonne Nicolle, CFDT-Santé Sociaux, Secrétaire Fédérale Europe-International, Tel. 0033 628 451 337, E-Mail: [email protected] [contact in French] – Vice-President of EPSU’s SC HSS
  • Kirsi Sillanpää, Tehy – The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals, Director, Societal Relations and Development Branch, E-Mail: [email protected] [contact in Finnish] – Vice-President of EPSU’s SC HSS

Free trade agreements: Health care and social services are not for trading! - Resolution of the EPSU Standing Committee “Health and Social Services”, adopted at the 45th meeting on 22.09.2016 in Brussels