Frankrijk verstoort WHO-onderhandelingen (en)

France is damaging attempts by the EU and US to create a positive climate for relaunching the stalled world trade liberalisation talks, known as the WTO's Doha round.

According to French daily Le Monde, French trade minister Christine Legarde went to Brussels yesterday (23 January) to try and persuade trade commissioner Peter Mandelson i not to make any concessions that would result in disunity in the bloc.

Paris' move comes as Mr Mandelson and his team have intensified contacts with their American counterparts to get the talks moving again.

The negotiations on reducing global barriers to trade were suspended in July last year mainly after disagreements between Brussels and Washington over how to protect their own farmers.

While no deal is imminent, the different parties in the talks, including Brazil and India, want to use the Davos economic forum in Switzerland later this week to sketch out a possible roadmap for getting discussions back on track.

But France, although it is in the throes of a presidential campaign with elections less than three months away, is keeping a watchful eye on the situation, particularly to make sure that Europe does not make any offers it considers too generous.

Before departing to Brussels, Mrs Legarde told Le Monde that it is always the Europeans "who make the first steps and formulate the best offers" with Paris apparently incensed by a mooted compromise with the Americans that would see a 54% reduction in EU agricultural tariffs and a cap at $17 billion on the most competition-distorting of aid to American farmers.

For its part Paris is sticking by a November 2005 European Commission proposal that would see an average 39% reduction in tariffs on farm produce.

It has also been briefing against the likely success of the Doha Round with the trade minister recently saying that she is "not especially optimistic" about a deal being completed adding "my gut feeling is that there is too much to swallow."

Much will also depend on the current EU presidency, Germany, which has indicated it wants to see the talks revitalised with Chancellor Merkel raising the issue with US president George W. Bush at a bilateral meeting at the beginning of January.

Meanwhile, WTO head Pascal Lamy expressed confidence about the talks at a European Policy Centre talk in Brussels yesterday.

However he refused to be drawn on his native France. Asked if he expected the French election to have an effect on the Doha Round, he said it was up to Mr Mandelson to try and secure a majority vote backing for any deal.

"I know that for the EU [trade] commissioner having a qualified majority [among member states] is crucial, because there is no way that you can push a deal without a qualified majority. How he cooks up this majority, is not for me to say," Mr Lamy said.

Apparently referring to the anti-globalisation sentiment expressed in some quarters in France, he urged Europe to "harness globalisation."

He suggested that politicians who spread a vision against globalisation are "treading" on the feet of democracy.