Mandelson to EU: GIve in a Little

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/19/2007 12:17:00 AM
The current WTO Doha Development Round is the Freddy (not Anne) Krueger of trade deals. No matter how often you wish it would just go away, it keeps coming back to make terrible sequels. Here is EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson again asking EU countries to give in a little, presumably on agricultural subsidies, so that talks in Germany to be held later in the week will move forward. Let's just say I'm not very optimistic. From Agence France Presse:

European Trade Minister Peter Mandelson urged the 27 European Union (EU) nations today to show flexibility at an upcoming meeting with major negotiating partners or risk the collapse of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.

Addressing EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels, Mandelson said there were three possible outcomes of the G4 talks in Potsdam, Germany - between the EU, the US, Brazil and India - including total failure, a diplomat said.

"If each partner negotiates to the limits of their flexibility," then the talks, which open on Tuesday, will be a success, Mandelson told the EU ministers.

Alternatively there could be the sort of "incremental progress" which falls short of an agreement, in which case a further G4 meeting could be held in July. [Don't they think it's perhaps wiser to end this round already if it's still deadlocked six years after being started? The Uruguay Round took eight years, but still...]

In the worst-case scenario, with no common ground found, WTO chief Pascal Lamy "will be in a position to take the initiative and put more pressure on the EU concerning agriculture," Mandelson was quoted as saying [...and I'd bet on it].

British, Dutch and Swedish ministers stressed their support for the EU commission’s line, while France and Ireland - nations with big agricultural sectors - expressed their reserves at the idea of offering too much flexibility.

France voiced its fears of an "unbalanced" agreement which would benefit emerging powers - such as China, India and Brazil - but not the world’s poorest and hurt the EU’s "social and economic interests", the diplomatic source said.

The four main players in the Doha round of trade talks are at odds over levels of agricultural subsidies and market access.

The developing countries and wealthy nations are largely at loggerheads over the degree of state support for agricultural markets along with the level of protection against imports, mainly in the European Union and the US.

Rich nations meanwhile are looking for more concessions from developing nations on access to their markets for industrial goods...

Mandelson warned that the window of opportunity on reaching a deal was narrowing. "If the Doha round collapses then there will be recriminations with the EU and the US the targets of developing nations," Mandelson warned.

He said that WTO member states still hoped to conclude the Doha round, launched in 2001, this year.