Brussels, 01/08/2003 (Agence Europe) - Despite the calming of nerves in Montreal over farm issues (see EUROPE of 31 July, p. 3, and 1 August, p. 3), the Commission is carefully avoiding excess optimism about the outcome of the negotiations paving the way for the Cancun Summit. On Thursday, Arancha Gonzalez, spokesperson for Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, said the outcome of the two days of talks was unclear. There are no grounds for being pessimistic, she said, but neither were there any grounds for excess optimism. She acknowledged that there was plenty of ground left to cover, particularly on the “Singapore issues” (investment and competition) and the preferential treatment of developing countries. Gregor Kreuzhuber, spokesperson for Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, said there had only been “timid” progress on farming subsidies. He reiterated Fischler's remarks that the EU and the United States had given themselves until 11 August to decide on a common position on farming. Kreuzhuber admitted that days and weeks of hard labour lay ahead in the run-up to the Cancun talks.