Existing frameworks for how trade is facilitated between countries in this sector

The arrangements described in this section are examples of existing arrangements between countries. They should not be taken to represent the options being considered by the Government for the future economic relationship between the UK and the EU. The Government has been clear that it is seeking pragmatic and innovative solutions to issues related to the future deep and special partnership thatwe want with the European Union.

A range of preferential trade agreements and bilateral economic and trade arrangements exist between global trading partners.The international baseline for trade in services is the World Trade Organisation’s *WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). All WTO Members are parties to GATS which sets out general rules, principles and obligations as a framework for trade in services, plus a schedule of commitments which set out how open and non-discriminatory parties commit to be across the service sectors covered.

GATS also sets out ‘how’ parties will allow services to be traded and this is split into four principal ‘modes’:
1) where a product rather than a service supplier/consumercrosses a border;
2) where the consumer of the service crosses a border (for example an inbound tourist);
3) where the company crosses a border (for example aretail chain opening a new establishment in another country); and
4) where the service provider moves (for example a lawyer spends nine months working in her firm’s office in another country). Commitments taken by parties vary and parties can unilaterally choose to improve their GATS offers at any point (subject to a certification procedure) or lower the level of their commitments, but in order to do so they will be expected to offer compensatory concessions.

With regards to the HE sector, the UK has taken a number of commitments relating to the privately-funded education sector under this framework:
• Mode 1: the UK does not limit the cross-border supply of HE services and agrees to treat all WTO members in the same way as domestic service providers, meaning students can access courses online and companies can sell online courses without facing any discrimination (they would still have to comply with all domestic law, which cannot discriminate against a firm based on its country of origin);
• Mode 2: the UK does not limit the movement of UK students to study or receive higher educational services abroad;
• Mode 3: the UK does not limit commercial presence, meaning companies from WTO countries can set up education institutions in the UK (as long as they comply with domestic legislation) and they will not be discriminated against based on their country of origin; and
• Mode 4: the UK takes commitments on temporary movement of service professionals in HE in specifically defined categories: Intra-Corporate Transfers and Business Visitors.

The UK is a member of the WTO in its own right, but its current commitments are listed in wider EU schedules.The Department for International Trade is leading a process to create UK-only schedules – reflecting our current level of openness.

All of the EU’s existing EU trade deals, and those currently under development, look to build on the GATS baseline by expanding the commitments of EU Member States to open up their services markets to each other. The most ambitious of these is the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Other plurilateral agreements also look to further liberalise the GATS baseline for trade in services. Although negotiations are currently on hold, the most comprehensive attempt so far is the proposed Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) between 23 different parties.