European business statistics compilers guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply – 2023 edition

The ‘EBS Compilers Guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply’ provides methodological guidance and practical information to the data compilers, on how to compile of statistics on the international supply of services by modes of supply. The guide builds upon the manual for statistics on international trade in services (MSITS 2010) and is the result of collaborative work between several countries and international organizations (WTO, OECD, UNSD) participating in the Eurostat Task Force on Modes of Supply. The term “international supply of services” appears for the first time in the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in 1995. The GATS defines the supply of services on the basis of the location of the supplier and consumer at the time when the transaction takes place and describes it as ‘the supply of a service through four modes of supply’. This extended dimension of international trade in services matters greatly from a trade policy perspective, as market access conditions vary among the four ways of supplying services internationally.