Mandelson meets experts over EU farming policy
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will attend a meeting of agriculture “technical experts” in Geneva today to examine the social and economic impact of the European Commission’s farming proposals.
Yesterday, he won renewed backing from most EU governments in world trade talks to carry on negotiating to bring down protectionist trade barriers - including reducing sky-high EU farm subsidies and tariffs.
Mr Mandelson had been accused by France, Ireland and a clutch of other member states of exceeding his negotiating mandate by bartering too much EU farm support in the current Doha Round of the world trade talks.
But an emergency EU meeting, called by France, rejected efforts to force the Trade Commissioner to get approval in advance every step of the way from a new “technical committee” in the months of negotiations ahead.
The idea was “intolerable” insisted Mr Mandelson – and he was backed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, chairing the Luxembourg meeting.
“No negotiation is even possible if you have to negotiate not only with the people in the room but also with some other committee.
“That is not the way the EU has done business in the past and it is not the way it will do it in the future.” said Mr Straw.
Mr Mandelson, whose job gives him power to represent all 25 EU governments in international trade talks, had earlier insisted he had not operated beyond his mandate when offering farm subsidy concessions.
He said he was not giving away the Common Agricultural Policy and warned it would be a “terrible mistake” for the EU to back off from offering concessions at the first sign of serious movement in the crucial Doha Round.
During tense talks yesterday, the French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Mr Mandelson’s attitude towards bartering with CAP subsidies - a quarter of which go to French farmers – was “unacceptable“.
Mr Mandelson said it was the French whose attitude was unacceptable – trying to keep the commission “on a leash” in talks designed to bring social and economic benefits across the globe – not least through demolishing trade barriers.
Yesterday afternoon the foreign ministers effectively backed the commissioner, issuing a statement on Mr Mandelson’s mandate and welcoming a promise from him to strengthen efforts to keep EU governments fully informed of his negotiating tactics.
Mr Mandelson said: “Nothing in this statement changes the situation. I carry on as before. We have a process of consultation and reporting back – weekly normally and even daily during the world trade negotiating process.
“We already do that. I am now perfectly happy to intensify that, but we the commission will do the reporting and we the commission will do the negotiating.”
Earlier, he said there had to be advances on agriculture, but he would be insisting on immediate movement in the other areas of the Doha Round - development, trade in industrial goods and trade in services services.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” he said.
“Let me be clear. It is absolutely and unequivocally not the intention of the commission to use the (world trade talks) to precipitate a new phase of CAP reform.”
The clash put Mr Mandelson on the same side as Chancellor Gordon Brown, who warned the French last week that protectionist farming measures have to go as part of Europe’s commitment to bring down world trade barriers.
Fourteen nations including France started the world trade talks demanding new constraints on Mr Mandelson, but only six – France, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Hungary – were left by the end of the meeting.
The only hard concession they won was today’s convening of a meeting of agriculture “technical experts” in Geneva to examine the commission’s farming proposals.
Mr Mandelson said he understood and took seriously the concerns some member states had on agriculture.
But he added: “Perhaps some of the member states need a reality check about the state of negotiations in this Round.
“At stake in these talks is 100 billion dollars worth of annual trade, with benefits for everyone if we work together to eliminate trade barriers. The EU will share in those considerable gains.
“Surely it would be the wrong reaction, and a terrible mistake for the EU, at the first sign of serious movement in the talks, to lose confidence and pull in our horns.”
EU farm subsidies are a central feature of the Doha Round because Mr Mandelson is preaching the removal of protectionist trade barriers – and to be credible he must offer concessions in the form of cuts in trade-distorting financial support designed to prop up the European farming sector.
EU agriculture subsidies enable EU producers to export at highly competitive prices – and high import tariffs shield Europe from cheap foreign produce flooding the market.
Such support is seen as still essential in EU countries with large farm sectors, and France in particular is threatening to “put the brake” on the Doha talks if Mr Mandelson bargains away the financial buffer shielding the farm sector from the cold winds of global competition.
Oxfam urged “meaningful” cuts in EU farm support and increased agricultural market access for developing countries – before the European trade negotiators try to wring concessions from the rest of the world.
“The EU must give more to developing countries and stop asking for so much in return,” said Celine Charveriat, Head of Oxfam International’s Make Trade Fair Campaign.
“Agricultural reform is of the utmost importance to developing countries, the majority of whose populations live in rural areas and farm to make a living. To make long-promised agricultural reform conditional on greater liberalisation of industry or services would be dangerous and contrary to the spirit of the development round.
“Commissioner Mandelson talks of the need for a ‘reality check’. The reality is that more than half the world’s population lives on less than a dollar a day. Fairer trade rules could make a difference. There is no time to lose: the EU must show leadership and make sure these talks help poor countries.”
