(EU) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR)? - FDCL
(EU) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR)? - FDCL
(EU) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR)? - FDCL
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72<br />
OECD area by European companies. [...] Traditional FDI patterns were <strong>the</strong> result<br />
<strong>of</strong> European investors’ preference for large <strong>and</strong> protected markets. Notably<br />
in <strong>the</strong> automobile <strong>and</strong> chemical industries, <strong>the</strong> size <strong>and</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> markets<br />
provided <strong>the</strong> major stimulus to FDI in <strong>the</strong> <strong>MERCOSUR</strong> region. Multinational<br />
companies used FDI mainly to overcome import barriers.” 179<br />
While in 1991 only three European corporations where among <strong>the</strong> top ten<br />
Argentine companies, in 1999 <strong>the</strong>re where already seven: YPF Repsol, Telefónica,<br />
Telecom, Supermercados Norte, Shell, Supermercados Discos <strong>and</strong> Carrefour. 180<br />
Particularly in <strong>the</strong> business sectors, which were privatized <strong>and</strong> primarily sold to foreign<br />
corporations, like telecommunications, aviation, water <strong>and</strong> wastewater market,<br />
energy <strong>and</strong> gas, <strong>the</strong> highest percentual lay<strong>of</strong>fs were implemented through firings<br />
<strong>and</strong> outsourcing in Argentina as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> privatizations. In terms <strong>of</strong> employee<br />
numbers, setting <strong>the</strong> index <strong>of</strong> 1990=100 shows that in 1998 <strong>the</strong> index in <strong>the</strong> telecommunications<br />
sector fell to 51, in aviation to 44, in <strong>the</strong> water <strong>and</strong> waste water<br />
sector to 52, in gas to 48 <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> energetic sector to 30. 181 According to <strong>the</strong>se<br />
numbers no new jobs were created through FDI in Argentina in <strong>the</strong> nineties, instead<br />
jobs were cut.<br />
The liberalized drinking water market had turned out to be an especially sensitive<br />
area in <strong>the</strong> nineties. Between 1991 <strong>and</strong> 1999 one third <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Argentinian potable<br />
water market, which covers <strong>the</strong> water supply <strong>of</strong> nearly 60 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> population,<br />
was privatized. 182 The biggest takeover was <strong>the</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong> Obras Sanitarias de la<br />
Nación (OSN) by Aguas Argentinas, <strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong> French Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux<br />
holds 39.93 percent, Aguas de Barcelona holds 25.01 percent (<strong>of</strong> which Suez is<br />
<strong>the</strong> majority shareholder, next to <strong>the</strong> Spanish Endesa with 11.64% 183 ), <strong>the</strong> French<br />
Vivendi holds 7.55 percent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Anglian Water 184 holds 4.25 percent <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> shares. 185 In 1993 Aguas Argentinas had agreed to invest 4 billion US-dollars to<br />
improve <strong>the</strong> infrastructure <strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> water pipe <strong>and</strong> sewerage systems. In exchange<br />
<strong>the</strong> Argentinian government accepted that <strong>the</strong> company’s personnel would<br />
be cut by 47% (from 7,600 to 4,000). 186<br />
179<br />
Ibid., p. 231.<br />
180<br />
Catalano, José: Las negociaciones <strong>MERCOSUR</strong>-Unión Europea: una visión desde la sociedad civil, preliminary<br />
version, December 2002, p. 34.<br />
181<br />
Ibid., p. 37.<br />
182<br />
UNCTAD: FDI AND DEVELOPMENT: The case <strong>of</strong> privatization-related services, TD/B/COM.2/EM.14/2, p. 11.<br />
183<br />
http://www.agbar.es/eng/nt/ntea001.htm.<br />
184<br />
Anglian Water is part <strong>of</strong> AWG Plc, where, among o<strong>the</strong>rs, <strong>the</strong> Deutsche Bank AG holds shares amounting to 4.24<br />
%. See: http://www.hemscott.co.uk/equities/company/cd02043.htm.<br />
185<br />
http://www.aguasargentinas.com.ar/frameset_aguas.html.<br />
186<br />
UNCTAD: FDI AND DEVELOPMENT: The case <strong>of</strong> privatization-related services, TD/B/COM.2/EM.14/2, p. 11.