Brussels, 28/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a letter sent to the European Commissioner for trade, Pascal Lamy, on Tuesday, UNICE has voiced its concern that the Commission is organising a conference on the principle of collective preferences, by which a countries or a group of countries can adopt trade measures to safeguard the societal values it sees as its own (such as refusing to import meat from a country which does not respect EU standards on animal welfare). In substance, the European employers' lobby feels that the Commission is giving "the impression that the EU is no longer obliged by the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and could decide unilaterally not to remain faithful to its commitments". The fact remains, however, that Pascal Lamy has never taken position either for or against collective preferences, but various documents on the subject have been circulated within the Commission's DG Trade with a view to preparing the conference on the subject, planned for this summer. All the same, the very fact that such an event is being organised comes under attack from UNICE, which "feels that discussions on (...) collective preferences are counter-productive".