06/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - At the opening of a two-day seminar on the means of assessing the positive and negative effects of trade agreement in Brussels on Thursday, Pascal Lamy declared that for trade to become a development tool, it would be necessary for it to be compatible with a management that was environmentally and socially friendly. He also stated that impact assessments on sustainable development was essential for helping to meet this challenge. The EU took the decision to continue with sustainable development in 1999 and relevant evaluations were carried out during negotiations with the goal of demonstrating the economic, environmental and social impact of the agreement.