EU trade chief asks for free hand

British actor Colin Firth (right) hands Peter Mandelson a 10 million-signature petition supporting fair trade. Picture / Reuters

BRUSSELS - The EU's trade chief has urged European Governments not to tie his hands when he sits down next week for what are likely to be tough negotiations on a deal to free up global commerce.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, under intense pressure from France not to make more concessions on farm goods, said he would stick to the negotiating mandate given to him by EU member states.

"But please send me into those talks with the ability to be flexible," he said.

Nearly 150 World Trade Organisation (WTO) member states will meet in Hong Kong from December 13 to 18 for what was once planned as a chance to settle on a full blueprint for a new WTO round.

But given the depth of differences between key trading partners, the meeting will now mainly seek to keep alive the talks process in the hope of a deal next year, as well as to agree on measures to help developing countries.

Mandelson was speaking after receiving a petition from aid group Oxfam, calling for a WTO deal to change rules that disadvantage poor countries.

British actor Colin Firth, who presented the petition, hoped it would "counter the voices of corporate opportunism ... that so often dominate those events".


* Aid group Oxfam has gathered 10 million signatures backing a change to WTO rules.
* Most of them were from developing countries.
* They want fair trade, especially for Third World farmers.

- REUTERS