WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS:SPAIN PRIORITIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000126 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/TP/MTA (WHITTEN) DEPT PASS USTR (HOOKER) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD SP WTO SUBJECT: WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS:SPAIN PRIORITIES REF: STATE 270998 ¶1. There follows below in para.2, Embassy Madrid's assessment of U.S. services market priorities in Spain and market openness. This analysis was largely conducted by the USCS based on experiences with American firms doing business in Spain. We found the market openness rating difficult to make. In most cases, where a category was ranked "low", it was due to informal, non-transparent barriers, rather than transparent regulations. For example, there are no legal/regulatory barriers for U.S. construction service companies, but the likelihood of non-Spanish firms winning construction contracts in Spain is virtually nil. ¶2. PRIORITY OPENNESS Legal 3 Low Accounting, Auditing, Bookkeeping 2 High Taxation 4 Low Architectural 3 Low Engineering 3 Low Urban planning/landscape architecture 4 Low Computer 2 High Research and Development 3 Medium Real estate 3 Medium Rental/leasing 3 Medium Advertising 1 High Market research/polling 3 High Management consulting 1 High Technical testing/analysis 3 Low Agricultural/forestry/fishing 4 Medium Mining 4 Medium Energy 2 Medium Energy distribution 2 Medium Personnel placement/supply 2 High Investigation/security 1 Medium Scientific/technical consulting 3 High Equipment maintenance/repair 3 High Building cleaning 4 Medium Photographic services 3 Medium Packaging services 3 Medium Printing/publishing 3 Medium Convention services 2 Medium Courier 3 Medium Telecommunication 2 Low Audiovisual 3 Medium Construction/engineering 1 Low Distribution/retail/franchise 2 Medium Educational 2 Medium Environmental 1 Medium Insurance 4 Medium Banking/finance 3 Medium Tourism 2 Medium Recreation/sporting 3 Medium MANZANARES