Brussels, 18/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Canadian Minister for International Trade, Pierre Pettigrew, is "very optimistic" as to the possibility of the launch of a new multilateral round of negotiations in Doha this autumn already. The outcome of the recent Summit of the Americas and the OECD ministerial, held in Paris this week, bear witness to a broad commitment to pursuing liberalization, is what he said in substance, on Friday, at a press conference organized by the European Policy Centre (EPC), just before meeting European Commissioner Pascal Lamy. Mr. Pettigrew considered being able on that occasion to "reassure" Pascal Lamy in his fear that a broad pan-American market should fall under the spell of the United States to the detriment of ties between the Union and the South of the American Continent (see below).
Pettigrew said his optimism was confirmed by the events of the past few months, especially: (1) the undertaking by all the countries of the Americas, including "some of the more fragile economies of the planet", to liberalization at the level of the continent and the adoption of a precise and detailed timetable to that effect, as "when one is prepared to undergo economic disarmament for one's neighbours, which is less obvious than doing so for countries 3000 kilometers away from us, it can be done at multilateral level"; (2) the will expressed by the OECD and non-member countries that took part in last week's ministerial (South Africa, Mali, Brazil, Singapore, Romania) to pull out the stoppers to achieve the launch of a round in Qatar, in a "more open, more positive climate" than hitherto. Mr. Pettigrew stressed the fact that his new Japanese counterpart seems "more committed" than his predecessor. Nevertheless, he warned, first the question of the agenda needs settling - which the Union wants vast and the United States "smaller". "It is impossible to achieve everything in every round", he said, announcing that a joint "grand declaration" setting sights on Doha would doubtlessly be made on the occasion of the next Euro-Canadian Summit, as well as on the occasion of the Euro-American Summit, mid-June.
As for Pascal Lamy's appeal for "vigilance" regarding the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Mr. Pettigrew intended reminding the Commissioner that "it is we who want to engage the United States in this mission as it is a way of doing things other than the law of the strongest", which easier to do in a bilateral face to face than in a regional framework. Mr. Lamy expressed concern, in an interview with Le Tribune earlier this week, that the FTAA, if achieved, should create leadership effects to the advantage of Washington, wallet effects". According to him the pan-American area offers the United States the opportunity of "extending its regulatory system to the whole of the American continent, which, in the long-run would pose serious problems for the European Union". "The essential," he said, "does not concern so much liberalization but the all the rules, standards and norms that today accompany the setting up of a regional free-trade agreement". He then recalled that the Union had been in negotiations with Chile and Mercosur for over a year in view of concluding associations, "that offer the same opportunities".