GLOBAL ADULT EDUCATION IN EUROPE. THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP

Esto es una política coherente con la normativa europea, plasmada ya en el Tratado de la Constitución Europea. En ella, los servicios públicos, como la educación, pasan a llamarse Servicios Económicos de Interés General (SIEG). Esta modificación no es meramente semántica: marca un giro importante en las competencias y en las responsabilidades del Estado y supone un viraje en las garantías y obligaciones que tenía respecto a la educación pública. Al empezar a ser calificada como “servicio”, la educación pierde buena parte del valor que tenía cuando era

considerada un derecho público. Al no definirse de manera explícita y taxativa como derecho, el Estado termina diluyendo su responsabilidad entre otros agentes sociales. No se niega su

obligación de cubrir las necesidades con la red pública, allí donde los proveedores privados no

desarrollen su iniciativa, pero debe contener su expansión, y hasta alejarse del territorio, cuando ésta –la iniciativa privada– sí esté presente. La enseñanza pública queda así relegada a

suministrar ese servicio a aquellos sectores sociales que no son lo suficientemente rentables para que puedan ser incluidos en el nuevo mercado de la educación.

El Tratado de la Constitución Europea seguía la estela ya propuesta a nivel mundial por

el Acuerdo General sobre el Comercio de Servicios (AGCS o GATS), acuerdo de la OMC

(Organización Mundial del Comercio) vinculante para todos los países. Este acuerdo establece

que los servicios educativos deben ser considerados productos como los demás, si no son

dispensados exclusivamente por el Estado a título privativo. Pero dado que en la educación

existe ya un sector privado en prácticamente todos los países del mundo, los servicios

educativos entran, pues, en el campo de competencia del acuerdo. La intervención del Estado se

considera legítima sólo para hacer la gestión y para desarrollar las políticas puntuales que

compensen a algunos sectores sociales más necesitados y no rentables para el mercado.

REFERENCIA: Díez Gutiérrez, Enrique Javier (2010). La globalización neoliberal y sus repercusiones en educación.

REIFOP, 13 (2), 23-38. (Enlace web: http://www.aufop.com/ )

Ya van apareciendo más estudios de cómo va a afectarnos este tratado. Veamos el estudio de Ecologistas en acción referido a la Educación donde dicen que "los servicios públicos no están excluidos de la negociación".  

En el apartado de Empresas educativas vemos:

La empresa de Ana Botín del Banco Santander llamada Empieza por educar  presentado en Madrid en el 2011 ( El Imparcial. Ana Patricia Botin presenta la Fundacion Empieza por Educar oritanda al educación secudnaria. ¡Uf, qué miedo!) que según este artículo es la filia española de Teach for America org filial a su vez de Teach for All  (En este blog podéis leer quién compone el consejo de esta organización).

Laureate International Universities es otra organización interesada en las universidades privadas que según nos cuentan en este informe que al ser la legislación poco clara en Europa sobre titulaciones universitarias pueden entrar imponiendo sus titulaciones.   

  

Un tanto parecido ha ocurrido con el General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), y ocurrirá con el tratado entre EEUU y la Unión Europea. No es por casualidad que los establishments financieros y económicos de los Estados-nación a los dos lados del Atlántico Norte sean favorables a tales tratados y sean precisamente las clases populares las que se oponen a la globalización económica y financiera. La globalización económica es un fenómeno predominantemente político, y responde a fuerzas políticas que se ejercen a través de los Estados y, a través de ellos, en las entidades supranacionales. Los países escandinavos, debido a su pequeño tamaño, son los países más “globalizados” (es decir, integrados en la economía internacional) de Europa y, sin embargo, están entre los países que tienen salarios mayores y los Estados del Bienestar más avanzados, y ello se debe a causas políticas, no económicas: el gran poder de las izquierdas en tales  países, habiendo estado gobernados por coaliciones de partidos progresistas durante la mayoría del periodo post Segunda Guerra Mundial. Este es el punto clave del que los “globalistas” parecen no darse cuenta. 2016/09/05 Si que hay alternativas al determinismo economico y/o tecnologico/

The Transatlantic Trade

and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

What is the TTIP?

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a trade agreement that is presently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. It aims at removing trade barriers in a wide range of economic sectors to make it easier to buy and sell goods and services between the EU and the US. In other words, its goal is to reduce and eliminate tariff and regulatory barriers to trade and investment.

Why does it concern adult education?

Until recently, education was not known as being part of the negotiations. We know since recently that, according to WTO's GATS Art. I. para. 3, and the WTO paper on Edu. services, it is almost certain for education to be subjected to this treaty, as in WTO's point of view, education is perceived merely as a service.

What is the current situation?

Negotiations are mostly happening behind closed doors, so it is not easy to find precise information. However, several documents have now been leaked after the results of the EU Ombudsman consultation were published, asking for more transparency. All documents are not public, but we know now that the USA is very eager to include some education services, including adult education, into the scope of the negotiations. EAEA has been in contact with several policy-makers, in particular with MEPs, to The negotiating team said that they will try to exclude public education while including private education. The problem is that in many jurisdictions the line between what is public and what is private education is blurry.

What does EAEA do on this topic?

EAEA believes that education is a public good and that it should not be part of the TTIP negotiations. Therefore, our aim is to make sure that EU negotiators formally exclude education from the effects of the TTIP.
EAEA has been following the topic for some time and has sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Trade, Commissioner Malmström, to explain its concerns and written a position paper on TTIP.
EAEA is currently attending meetings with other civil society organisations and umbrella organisations to define common positions and share information.
EAEA also met with MEP Helga Trüpel, rapporteur for the CULT Committee on TTIP, and shared its views on the issue.

What did other NGOs and stakeholders do?

There are a number of organisations interested in defending Education in Europe from potential negative outcomes of trade treaties such as TTIP. Several of them have issued statements:

ESU - European Students' Union

European teachers and students raise concerns about US-EU trade partnership14 March 2014

Education International

European teachers and students raise concerns about US-EU trade partnership14 March 2014

ETUCE - European Trade Union Committee for Education

Statement on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
15 April 2014
ETUCE Information page on TTIP

UCU - University and College Union of the UK

UCU Campaig page on the TTIP
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A threat to UK education

Social Platform

Updates on TTIP and possible implications on essential services
June 10 2014

EPHA - European Public Health Alliance

TTIP related content on EPHA website

OBESSU - The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions

ESU, EI and ETUCE concerned about education in the proposed EU-US free trade deal
9 April 2014

EUA - European University Association

Information page on the TTIP

SOLIDAR

The European Commission must not trade off our crown jewels when negotiating the trade and investment partnership (TTIP) with the US - SOLIDAR, Social Platform, EPSU, EPHA joint communication on TTIP
17 June 2014
TTIP must not ’wipe out’ social and health rights in Europe
25 June 2014

EPSU - European Federation of Public Service Unions

Leaked documents TTIP reveal substantial EU commitments, public services not excluded
13 June 2014

European Movement International

European Movement International Position on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

 

EUCIS-LLL

EUCIS-LLL Position Paper “Why Education should be excluded from TTIP”
12 February 2015

24.03.2015 EAEAPOLICY

What does TTIP mean for adult education?

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations are worrying many civil society organisations, including EAEA. But what is TTIP and how does it concern adult education? EAEA Policy Officer Tania Berman explains.
What is TTIP agreement?
"It is a trade agreement that is being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. The aim is to remove trade barriers to make it easier to buy and sell goods and services between the EU and the US."
How does TTIP concern adult education?
"It is currently unclear whether education, and in particular adult education, will be included in TTIP. As there were some rumors on it, EAEA, as well as several other stakeholders in the field of education, as European Students Union (ESU), Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU), EUCIS-LLL, European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), etc. made very clear statements asking for education to be excluded from the TTIP agreement. Indeed, we believe that education has no place in a trade agreement as it is a public good and a human right.
The latest information on the TTIP text tend to say that education will be protected in the agreement, but it is still very much unsure."
If TTIP becomes reality, what would it mean for an individual adult educator?
"It would mean that any private service provider could offer education services. Experience shows that private service providers tend to offer education services of lower quality than public services, often working with volunteers, students, under-qualified teachers, low-paid trainers or teachers, cutting on costs wherever they can, also not offering teacher training, etc. These service providers increase the competition in the sector and often offer cheap courses, making it more difficult for NGOs or public services to continue providing a high-level quality service.
Furthermore, we believe that adult education needs to reach out to marginalised groups, including learners from remote or rural areas; private providers do not reach out to these groups as these populations are not profit-making.
The very concrete threat for adult educators could be to see their professional opportunities decrease in terms of teacher trainings, salaries, recognition of their qualifications, etc.
It is nevertheless very difficult to say whether these things would really happen, as removing barriers do not mean that such a strong competition would actually happen; but opening education to the market means that the door would be open to private education services to start to compete with public education. In some European countries, it is already possible, and it would therefore not bring big changes; but in some of the other countries, education is, for now, protected. EAEA is advocating for education to be, in Europe, a public good."
What are the latest news on TTIP agreement?
"A new round of negotiations took place in Brussels. On 4th of February 2015, a stakeholder’s meeting was organised, during which several organisations addressed questions to the negotiators on the exclusion of education, public services and health.
Civil society is getting organised, with several umbrella organisations as EUCIS-LLL or Social Platform, both platforms that EAEA is a member of, gathering their members to define their position on the topic. EUCIS-LLL has published a position paper.
The European Parliament has also started to work on the TTIP with several Committees preparing an opinion for European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade that currently negotiates the agreement with the representatives of the US.
In the field of education, the Parliament's Committee for Culture and Education (CULT) appointed a rapporteur, MEP Helga Trüpel (Greens/EFA, picture above) to write an opinion on its behalf. MEP Trüpel organised a small meeting with stakeholders in the field of education with EAEA, EUCIS-LLL, ETUCE and the German Rector's Conference/European University Association (EUA). After discussing with these organisations, she prepared a draft opinion that EAEA supports. The draft opinion was presented recently to the CULT Committee. It will be voted upon on April 16th."
Interview: Aura Vuorenrinne
Picture: European Union 2015 / EP