I. INTERVIEW. On the occasion of the polemic surrounding the fact that Pascal Lamy has been given an honorary doctorate by the University of Louvain-la-Neuve (see previous page), the Commissioner agreed to be interviewed by the Brussels daily "Le Soir" on 1 and 2 February. During his interview, he takes stock of the EU's positions with a view to the new round of world trade talks. We have grouped his responses according to subject.

1. Conditions for opening trade. "I am not an advocate of free trade. I believe that the opening up of trade is a good thing and that it fosters development and growth, but on condition that there are a certain number of rules. And it is the European Union that pushes these rules onto the international scene. It must be said that this sometimes goes against the interests of the United States and a certain number of developing countries that are not keen on serious talk about the environment, social and health matters when it comes to trade.

2. In support of the developing countries. "I am the advocate and actor, like others, of greater integration of the concerns of developing countries in trade policy. I proposed, and, after difficult discussions with Member States, succeeded in getting approval of the Everything But Arms initiative, which allows us to import everything that originates from the 50 poorest countries of the world, free of customs duties or quotas. And the EU is fighting for a special regime in favour of developing countries".

3. The EU, major importer of farm products. "Europe is a net importer of farm and food products. Each year (and this will no doubt come as a surprise to many petitioners (1)), it imports EUR 60 billion of these products, 45 billion of which come from developing countries. We import more goods from the poorest countries than from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand together. The CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) has changed a great deal since the fifties. Franz Fischler, with the full support of the College of Commissioners, has put a proposal of reform on the table, which has caused criticism here and there, but also considerable support. But the EU will continue to support its 7 million farmers - 15 million after enlargement - with budgetary allocations decided for ten years. Our reasons for doing so are surely reasons to which petitioners (1) are not insensitive: the environment, food safety, protection of the landscape, and the livelihood of a certain number of rural populations. This should be done in such a way that it poses the fewest possible problems to developing countries. We are heading in that direction".

4. Education is not a "service" to be liberalised. "There is no risk that, in negotiations on services, the Union takes commitments that bring into question the fact that education is a public service in certain countries of the European Union (not in all) and that universities are a public service in some countries (not in all). I shall not make any commitment that would either directly or indirectly lead to deregulation or privatisation of the educational system where it is a public service. I could not be clearer on this. With regards general services, the offers of the EU will be put on the table end March. A consultation process was opened very broadly to the public on our Internet site, and will be continued with the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The offers we make at the WTO will be made public once various internal consultations within the Union have come to an end, at the end of March".

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(1) Those who signed the "petition" against giving Pascal Lamy the honorary doctorate.

II. SPEECH. At the end of last year, Pascal Lamy had delivered a speech at Louvain-la-Neuve on globalisation, in which he mainly said: "I am not one of those who recommend the self-regulatory virtues of the market and who think it is enough to open the door to let well-being flow in. On the contrary. Market capitalism must be controlled by policies, that is, objectives defined in common. This is the new consensus on the role of trade as an instrument for development, which made it possible to launch a new round of multilateral trade talks, just one year ago in Doha. It was the clear inclusion of the development objective that made it possible to reach an agreement in Doha. It is this objective that the participants undertook to achieve, not only the developed countries but also the developing countries (…). We must not let ourselves be abused by facile and simplistic slogans, and allow one to think that the debate is between anti-globalisation activists and those in favour of liberalisation. The real difference is between unrealistic doctrinarians and those who support effective realism".

For other statements by Mr Lamy and their significance, see our column "A Look Behind the News" dated 14 January 2003.