Krems, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of their informal meeting in Krems, Austria, on 29 May, the Agriculture Ministers of the Member States said that the EU should not, for the time being, put any further offers on the table on the agricultural plank of negotiations underway at the WTO. Taking note of the current stalemate in the negotiations, they also stressed that it was high time for the United States to do their share of the work needed to ensure the success of the Doha Round (see also offer article on page 10).
"The European Ministers of Agriculture believe that Europe should not put forward a new offer" on the agricultural plank of negotiations at the WTO "and that it is our partner's turn to make an offer", the President-in-exercise of the Agriculture Council, the Austrian Minister Josef Pröll, told the press on 29 May. He pointed out that the EU had already made concessions in the negotiations, such as the phasing out of export refunds by 2013, whereas the other members of the WTO, the United States in particular, "have not budged an inch". Mr Pröll acknowledged the difficulty for the United States of acting on the WTO dossier at this moment in time, due to the delay in the American Senate's nomination of Susan Schwab to the post of US Trade Representative (USTR). She is to replace Rob Portman in this post, as he goes on to become Director of Budgetary Affairs in the White House. "Responsibility for the continuing negotiations cannot fall on the EU's shoulders", concluded the Austrian Minister for Agriculture, the Environment and Forests.
It is worth noting that the negotiator for the European Union, Commissioner Peter Mandelson, had stated that the EU was prepared to go further on agriculture. "If circumstances allow, by which I mean if, and only if, the principal partners also put something valuable on the table, the EU will be prepared to increase its current offer on agriculture", he said, on 23 May. In answer to questions from the press on the importance of the EU's making a further offer in order to ensure the success of the Doha Round, Mr Pröll said that he understood Mr Mandelson's concerns for ensuring that the EU speaks with one voice, whilst adding that the EU would be making a mistake if it made any further concessions. "It is entirely in the interest of our trade partners to recognise that it is their turn to act", the Austrian Minister noted. He also declared that non-trade concerns, such as product quality (production standards and geographic indications) were still "on the table of the negotiations" taking place at the WTO on the Doha Round.
During their visit to the Austrian group Waldland Vermarktung (a network of almost 800 companies involved in the processing of vegetable and animal matter and the production of fabrics and motor oil of vegetable origin) in Zwettel, the European Agriculture Ministers relayed Mr Pröll's message on the negotiations at the WTO- with greater vigour, in some cases. French Minister Dominique Bussereau told journalists that France "would prefer a breakdown" in commercial negotiations to a "result which would call the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and its future into question". In the view of the French minister, "Europe does not need to make further concessions on agriculture" to obtain an agreement on the Doha Round. He pointed out that the EU had already made a great many concessions and reiterated that it is the United States' turn to move. "Mr Mandelson should remain within his mandate", Mr Bussereau added, going on to state that the European offer of 28 October was already "France's limit". The German Agriculture Minister, Horst Seehofer, said that Germany and France were defending the same position, which was that a breakdown would be better that the EU than a bad agreement.
For Finland, which is to take up the next six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU, it is time the other members of the WTO made a move, according to the country's agriculture Minister, Juha Korkeaoja, who stressed the need to seek a balance on all subjects under negotiation at the WTO (not only agriculture, but also services, for example). The Finnish Minister stressed that the EU had more or less reached the upper limits of its offer on agriculture. "There is no question of the EU making a unilateral agricultural offer without the others moving", added the Luxembourg Minister, Fernand Boden. He called on Brazil to agree to open up its borders to products from other developing countries and on the United States to table an offer in the field of agriculture. "The United States holds the key to a compromise" on the Doha Round, said the Dutch Minister, Cees Veerman, who believes that deadlock exists within the WTO today due to the American position. Paolo de Castro, the Italian Minister for Agricultural and Forestry Policy, said that "everybody" would be affected by a breakdown at the WTO on the liberalisation of trade, in particular stressing the danger of a decision by the United States to prorogue their agricultural policy of the Farm Bill, which creates trade distortions due to the large subsidies paid by Washington to its farmers.