Brussels, 14/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, at his meeting with the Slovene authorities on Wednesday 12 December in Ljubljana, met Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Foreign Minister Dimtrij Rupel and Minister for the Economy Andrej Vizjak to discuss the priorities of the future Council presidency during the first half of 2008, and trade policy in particular. The Slovene authorities stressed their commitment to working towards a favourable conclusion to the multilateral Doha Round talks, which are now not expected to be finalised until the end of 2008, according to predictions by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy himself (EUROPE 9561). Mandelson and the Slovenian leaders also agreed on other trade priorities: conclusion of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the ACP countries, revision of the trade defence instruments, implementation of the new market access strategy, revision of the provisions of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) for the period 2009-2011 and continuation of talks for bilateral free trade agreements (with ASEAN, South Korea, India, GCC, Central America and the Andean Community). Welcoming the confidence shown by his hosts in free trade, Mandelson stated that Russia's accession to the WTO, the settlement of trade differences with China and the continuation of non-tariff barrier reduction efforts and regulatory convergence in transatlantic trade were the other priorities of EU trade policy. (E.H.)