Pascal Lamy welcomes EU Presidency conclusions on WTO Doha Round

Today EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy de-briefed EU Member States on the current state of discussions in the WTO Doha Development Agenda.

Welcoming the conclusions by the presidency at the end of the meeting, Pascal Lamy said:"The EU stands united to ensure that the WTO trade talks deliver to benefit to developing countries. I will have an opportunity to discuss this issue with my colleagues of G90 in Mauritius. I hope that this will allow us to get a step closer to make substantial progress on the negotiations at the end of July.

The text of the Presidency conclusions at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) 12th July states:

"The Council noted that EU Trade Ministers had carried out a thorough evaluation of the situation of Doha Round negotiations in an informal discussion the previous day, where broad support to the Commission was expressed, both in terms of strategy and tactics.

The Council took note of the presentation made by Commissioner Lamy on the current state of the negotiations.

The Council underlined the importance of reaching a satisfactory agreement at the WTO General Council at the end of July on the negotiating frameworks for agriculture, non agricultural market access, the Singapore Issues, and development. Those framework texts should reflect the key EU objectives and interests at this stage in the Doha negotiations. In that respect, the Council stressed the importance of achieving a balanced approach between the four areas for decision in July, as well as balance between the different pillars of the agriculture framework modalities, and full parallelism between commitments on different forms of agricultural export competition.

The Council took note of the Commission's intention to inform and consult Member States regularly in the 133 framework, both in Brussels and Geneva on progress in the negotiations.

The Council agreed to hold a special session of the Council in Brussels, which is foreseen for the 26th July 2004 (at 10.30), with a view to establishing the EU position on texts to be submitted to the WTO General Council."

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