EU Differences Are Not Conducive To Doha Round Negotiations

At the moment, there is only a few days from the world trade organization's new round of Ministerial Conference on the Doha round, and the EU is still debating the key issues of agricultural subsidies.

The outside world is worried that if the EU's internal differences are difficult to eliminate, it will have a negative impact on the Doha Round negotiations.

WTO announced the latest compromise plan for two key areas of agricultural and non-agricultural market access in the Doha Round negotiations on the 10 th of this month.

This is the third compromise that WTO has put forward in the negotiations on these two key areas.

In July 21st, the trade ministers of some 30 major WTO members will hold a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, and strive to make breakthroughs in agricultural subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products and industrial products.

According to the plan, the EU trade minister will hold consultations on the eve of the WTO ministerial conference to consider the latest compromise plan and coordinate the position of the Doha Round negotiations. However, there are obvious differences between the EU and the EU Member States, especially France. The EU Member States strongly oppose the reduction of agricultural subsidies and put pressure on the EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson.

As the EU's Doha round negotiator, Mandelson appealed to the EU Member States to unite on the Doha Round negotiations on the 14 day.

He said the EU should resolve internal differences and push forward the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference.

Mandelson also refuted the recent accusations made by French President Sarkozy.

At the EU summit meeting last month, Sarkozy criticized Mandelson for being too weak in the long drawn out Doha Round negotiations.

Sarkozy said that the EU has made too much concession in reducing agricultural subsidies and opening up the market for agricultural products, but has not received corresponding returns.

Analysts believe that France's strong stance in the Doha Round negotiations is partly related to the rise of trade protectionism and its poor domestic economic situation. On the other hand, the reduction of agricultural subsidies is related to the vital interests of France.

For a long time, France has been the biggest beneficiary of the huge EU agricultural subsidies, while the agricultural subsidy under the EU Common Agricultural Policy amounts to tens of billions of euros per year, so France can not give up easily.

According to media analysis, although Sarkozy kept on pressing Mandelson to put pressure on emerging market economies, forcing the latter to more open the non-agricultural market, it was, to a certain extent, an excuse for him to avoid the EU's reduction of agricultural subsidies and the opening of the agricultural products market.

At present, the French government is actively seeking support from other EU member states such as Spain and Italy.