Brussels, 20/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in Brussels on Friday 20 June on the sidelines of the European Council, said that WTO agreements on trade liberalisation, as they stand today, have to be rejected. This is an issue that had huge bearing in the referendum campaign in Ireland which saw the majority vote against the Lisbon Treaty.
Pointing out that the WTO negotiations had clearly been an issue during the campaign in Ireland, Sarkozy said that “it would unthinkable for the EU to continue to negotiate an agreement where the EU got nothing on services and industry and which will bring a 20% reduction in European agricultural production in a world where 800 million people are dying of hunger”. On that basis, “for us, it's no,” he said, going on “if we want to exacerbate the Irish crisis, all we have to do is to lay it on a little more thickly and carry on with a completely unbalanced WTO agreement”. He reproached European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson for being responsible for the EU's imbalanced offer in the Doha Round.
Among the reasons for the Irish “No” vote in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty it has been suggested that Irish farmers feared that a WTO agreement, as is currently being negotiated, could threaten the country's beef farming and dairy production. (L.C./transl.rt)