EU to Make No More Moves Ahead of WTO Hong Kong Ministerial
EU trade commissioner says other countries will have to make significant offers ahead of Europe taking any more action.
Compiled by staff
Published: Dec 5, 2005
The European Union doesn't plan on making any more trade concessions ahead of the World Trade Organization Ministerial in Hong Kong later this month. Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, told a British television show over the weekend that calls by the British finance minister for more concessions were "going over the top."
Mandelson says that for more movement to come from the EU in trade negotiations, something would "have to change in this round" and other countries would have to put some "serious offers" on the table in other sectors of the negotiations before the EU could move further on ag talks.
In his conversation with the Jonathan Dimbleby program, "Any Questions," Mandelson says that there won't be a final deal in Hong Kong nor will there be "the two-thirds of a deal" that many originally wanted. Mandelson says removing trade barriers could harm the poorest developing nations who depend on them to get market access.
The British finance minister, Gordon Brown, had made a call earlier in the weekend for a more far-reaching reform of Europe's Common Agricultural Policy, but Mandelson says that while the CAP needs reform and spending needs to be lowered it wouldn't be as much or as far-reaching as Brown suggests.
The WTO Hong Kong ministerial starts next week. Check out www.FarmFutures.com for daily reports from the event as Executive Editor Mike Wilson travels to China to cover the talks.
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