According to Article XIX.3 of the GATS agreement, WTO members must make an assessment of current trade in services, both in general and per service sector, before beginning a new round of negotiations. In particular, they must assess the degree to which the objectives of GATS have been achieved, such as greater liberalisation of the service sector and promoting the economic growth of all WTO member states as well to as the development of developing countries. The assessment must also consider whether the developing countries have been able to increase their trade in services--the objective of article IV. The European Union (EU) and other countries have effectively ignored article XIX.3. They continue to disregard appeals from developing countries to conduct a thorough assessment.