03/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on 2 April in Brussels, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stressed the “urgent” need for an agreement at the WTO on liberalisation of the global market. They also pointed out that the EU and Australia want to step up their cooperation with a new partnership to be negotiated by mid-2008 in several fields (trade, security, visas, development aid and climate policy). (E.H.)