GATS protest outside 11 DTI offices1 March 2003
A WTO instigated tug of war in Cambridge
13 March 2003 - the day the secretive European Union body, the 133 Committee, which has decision-making power over the GATS process, met. And it was the day which saw European-wide action and protest about GATS.
Services were auctioned off to fat cats in Manchester
In the UK, Friends of the Earth teamed up with the World Development Movement and People & Planet to raise numerous concerns* about the secretive and wide-ranging GATS negotiations. These include that GATS:
- negotiations are taking place in secret
- undermines democracy
- puts profit before people's basic needs and rights
Spivs were selling off public services in Liverpool
People gathered outside regional government offices, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly to highlight the massive threat posed to their local basic services by the global trade treaty. Eye-catching street theatre was used to depict how big business will make a fortune as the Government secretly sells off our services and the right to regulate them.
The WTO held an auction in Cardiff
Letters expressing concerns over GATS were delivered to the offices which asked the Regional Director to pass the objections on to the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) Head Office in London.
In London, services were going cheap..
*To see the extent of Friends of the Earth's concerns over the Agreement, take a look at our response to the DTI's consultation on GATS (PDF†).
© Friends of the Earth
