European nations concerned about giving away too many concessions

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)--European Union nations said Nov. 21 they will closely monitor EU trade negotiator Peter Mandelson at crucial global trade talks next month to ensure he makes no excessively generous offers on cuts in farm subsidies.

In an unusual declaration, the EU foreign ministers said they would meet "in special session" during the World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong to offer Mandelson "necessary guidance" in the final stretch for a global trade deal.

Mandelson has a mandate to negotiate on the EU's behalf. The foreign ministers' statement came at the behest of France which worries Mandelson may be giving the EU store away in the heat of final negotiations, already seriously behind schedule, over cuts in farm subsidies and tariffs.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Mandelson told the foreign ministers he may make new concessions. Mandelson, speaking to reporters separately, denied that.

In recent weeks, France has been pushing for the EU to keep Mandelson on a short leash and to keep governments abreast of what he is negotiating.

Nov. 21, the foreign ministers said they still back Mandelson as a trade negotiator.

"There really was a genuine sense of unity and cohesion among member states," Mandelson told reporters, adding that he welcomed such unity "because previously you could see different emphases being placed on different parts of the offer that we made."

The EU will make "no further or different offer" on agriculture ahead of the Hong Kong talks, Mandelson said, but looked to others to consider Europe's latest farm trade offer and reciprocate to make progress elsewhere in the talks.

Mandelson denounced the tactics of Europe's trading partners, saying they have forced negotiations into a "narrow agriculture silo"--meaning the talks were behind schedule and unlikely to reach a full deal this year.

He said he does not expect a full deal, saying there has been more progress on agriculture than other areas.

Mandelson appeared before reporters sporting a white wristband, a symbol of fair trade.

He said he will push for a package of development measures in Hong Kong, but added that these "should be a top-up, not a substitute" for demands that richer countries open their markets to goods from the developing world.

The EU trade chief said he would meet U.S., Brazilian and Indian officials in Geneva on Nov. 22, for informal talks.

The EU's latest offer to cut farm tariffs has been sharply criticized by trade partners who said average tariff cuts of 46 percent did not go far enough.

The fight over cutting agricultural subsidies threatens to derail progress at the Dec. 13-18 Hong Kong negotiations that aim to resolve many of the issues blocking the Doha round of trade talks--named for the Qatari capital where the negotiations were launched in 2001.

The final treaty, when completed, would be binding on all 148 WTO members. Previous trade meetings in Seattle and Cancun collapsed among sometimes violent anti-globalization protests.

The round is already well behind its original December 2004 deadline.