Brussels, 14/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Although they unanimously agreed that the service plank is a vital piece of the puzzle of the Doha round of negotiations, the main players, meeting for a global summit on services in Washington on 13 and 14 October, are seeking an interim approach to bridge the methodology of the United States with that of the other countries, led by the EU, involved in the negotiation over the liberalisation of trade in services. Whilst the United States is not ready to conclude a compromise over the details of the liberalisation of trade in agriculture and manufactured products (NAMA) until it is clearly aware of what it stands to gain over services in return for their concessions on the two other chapters, the EU and India favour a cross-cutting approach to concluding an agriculture/NAMA agreement, whilst having a clear idea of the potential offers in the liberalisation of services, before finalising negotiations over services. "We know that the biggest gains to the global economy are likely to derive from multilateral services liberalisation, but the offers on the table right now fail to deliver on the promise (...). We have said flat out that there would be no deal without a solid result on services which would result in new market opportunities, but we believe that a positive outcome is still achievable", said Ron Kirk. Criticising the closure of the services markets of certain large emerging countries, the American Trade Representative also stressed the United States' interest in stimulating their trade in services with the APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation) economies. "We must build on what we have already achieved on agriculture and NAMA, but services, which are vital to the success of the Doha round, need a bigger push", said Catherine Ashton. Whilst stressing the need for a better understanding of how this final agreement would look with its services plank, the Trade Commissioner and her Indian counterpart Anand Sharma nonetheless reaffirmed their commitment to the cross-cutting process. (E.H./trans.fl)