Analysis Paper on Treatment of Trade in Services under the Kosovo-Turkey Free Trade Agreement of Services

Abstract

The Government of Kosovo has recently signed an agreement with Turkey on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement in Goods. However, the negotiations in signing a free trade agreement in services are still on-going. This is the first time since Kosovo became independent in 2008 that the Government of Kosovo has been engaged in trade negotiations, as its so-far single trade agreement, the CEFTA 2006, was negotiated by UNMIK. The absence of experience in trade negotiations in itself creates challenges for the government when negotiating with Turkey on such a complex issue, as service trade liberalization. An additional challenge is created by parallel negotiations with CEFTA partners and the European Union. The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on services trade negotiators with Turkey, in order to formulate an appropriate position for the proposed negotiations. The paper focuses on the regulatory (legal) aspects of possible liberalization measures/commitments by Kosovo and Turkey.