Hanoi, 10/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - Pascal Lamy told journalists in Hanoi on Monday (where he is taking part in the informal ASEM dialogue - see EUROPE of 8 September, p.10) that on every topic the inclusion of which in the next WTO trade round was giving rise to concern by developing countries (namely competition, social issues, the environment, etc), he would be repeating the EU's position of "flexibility" vis-à-vis developing countries.
When asked whether he shared Paris' concerns about the success of the Doha conference (see EUROPE of 8 September, p.7), the European Commissioner replied (according to AFP), "of course", but added that that did not mean that France did not support the launch of a new trade round. He said that the French might be more concerned than others, but that he himself had a mandate supported by the Council and the Parliament and that the Council had decided not to make any changes to it. A new trade round would either be launched on the basis of his mandate, or - and this, added, would cause him problems - it would not be launched on the basis of his mandate.