Brussels, 05/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a speech made on 4 November in Washington, European Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy explained his "current state of mind on the (Doha) Round" following the impasse reached at Cancun. According to the press, the EU and USA have "deserted the Round, and back, snarling at each other like two cats in a bag, explained Mr Lamy (who met his counterpart Bob Zoellick at the Congress in Washington, together with Bill Frist, Bill Thomas and Chuck Grassley). The Commissioner stresses that the EU is "insisting on a moment of reflection". This is considered necessary, "if you consider the extent to which the EU has already tailored its agenda and it approach to development objectives - such as on agriculture, or indeed on Singapore issues. So a brief period while we reconsider our position is essential if we are to carry our constituencies with us", explained Mr Lamy. He pointed out that the objective is to "be ready by the time of the General Council meeting in Geneva (of the WTO) on 15 December" following the informal meeting with Member States on 2 December, discussions with the European Parliament, the economic community, NGOs, the USA, G20, Japan "and others". Mr Lamy notes that the "balance between bilateral and multilateral trade agreements…is one of the issues we are consulting on". The Commissioner also pointed out that, "if the Round were dead, and I don't believe it is, then it would be reasonable to think about putting most of one's eggs in the bilateral basket. Even if the round is only stalled, it is reasonable to ask whether we cannot and should not advance on other fronts". However, he did remark that, "I am not going to lose any sleep about Bob Zoellick pursuing an FTA with Morocco…any more than he is worried about me doing one with Mexico". Mr Lamy noted that Washington had six zones of this kind, counting NAFTA as two. He added that, "The EU, as Bob loves to point out, has got a fair few more than that". Since Cancun, "the rest of the world has suddenly come to love the multilateral system". The Commissioner concluded that, "the issue is not so black and white, so cut and dried. For the foreseeable future, we in Europe, you in the US, and increasingly, they in Asia, are going to pursue a mix of multilateral and bilateral agreements. I think that is healthy".