Brussels, 24/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - The 145 member countries of the World Trade Organisation will be starting a week of critical and highly delicate negotiations in Geneva, to try to find agreement by the end of the month on the modalities for the planned liberalisation in the field of agriculture. The chances of this happening by the meeting on 31 March are slimmer than ever, judging by the tenacity with which positions are being defended, the ambient scepticism, even in Geneva, and the initial criticisms which have fused together against the second document, which was brought out a week earlier in the hope of gaining agreement. "The discussions will doubtless take place afterwards, as the delegates have very clear-cut views on different aspects of the Harbinson document", indicates a source close to the discussions. And it is because of this same ill-formed unconformity that the leader of the negotiations has been able to name this next text only "revised draft", in other words, limit it to a second stream based on controversial suggestions made at the mini-ministerial meeting in Tokyo in mid-February, and thrown out a couple of days later in Geneva. A reference was made to this in the preamble to the text, mentioning the "lack of collective direction" and positions which were still "very far apart on the key questions", by way of explanation for not bringing any "significant modification to the first draft". The Union, therefore, reiterates that the Geneva draft contains "serious imbalances", in particular the lack of consideration for "non-commercial concerns", and the impasse on the peace clause, which it sees as vital. "We hope that realism will prevail for the unrealistic expectations, at Geneva too", stress Commissioners Pascal Lamy and Franz Fischler, who are in charge of the negotiations. Certain trade partners are on the same wavelength, notably Japan and Switzerland, who wish to see "step-by-step negotiations rather than radical liberalisation". This, however, is precisely what the powerful Cairns Group exporters and the United States, themselves also "disappointed", are looking for.