Strasbourg, 16/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - Speaking to reporters in Strasbourg on Tuesday, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson responded to the criticisms voiced on Monday by Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer. Australia is a leading member of the Cairns Group of farm exporters at the World Trade Organisation. Downer is unhappy at the EU not giving enough ground on farm trade at the WTO talks. 'Particularly we want to see progress on agriculture. We want to see the European Union come back with a better market access offer, and that's going to be crucial to a successful meeting in Hong Kong,' said Downer on the fringes of an APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation, of which the United States is a member) forum in Pusan (South Korea). Peter Mandelson replied: 'I think it is better for APEC to use its gathering to create a platform for negotiation rather than for finger pointing. I regret that some countries represented at APEC seem more interested in orchestrating the media than orchestrating the negotiations.' 'I do not believe it will be helpful to the (WTO, Ed) talks to make a further offer on agriculture, because this would simply further unbalance the negotiations,' added Mandelson. Addressing the European Parliament plenary, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, said the EU would not accept lessons on opening its markets from parts of the world less open than the EU, because the EU has the most open markets in the world. The APEC forum's draft final statement, expected to be endorsed on Friday, may irritate Mandelson because it indirectly calls on the EU to make more effort on farm trade. The statement is expected to argue that if efforts are not made in farming, progress would not be possible in the overall negotiations. It will urge all other WTO members, particularly those with the greatest share of global trade and its benefits to display the necessary flexibility to make progress in the negotiations from now until Hong Kong and beyond.