The call to end protectionism at home is likely to lead to some rumblings within Europe, but the announcement really set off alarm bells among those seeking to protect the rights of people in developing countries.
Top leaders and intellectuals from developing and developed nations will convene in Qatar next month to revive trade liberalisation talks and to arrive at the best way to support the former countries in their trade expansion to enhance their economic growth and ease poverty.
European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson ended three days of quiet exploratory discussions here in Washington with a plea for all sides to show more flexibility in order to get the stalled World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda negotiations back on track.
Press Release: Friends of the Earth Europe has today called for alternative ways to deal with environmental trade disputes.The call comes as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) publishes its final ruling on the transatlantic trade dispute on genetically modified (GM) foods.
U.S. and European Union trade officials this week acknowledged they have made no progress in narrowing their substantive differences on the Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations in their most recent discussions leading up to this week's visit of EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.
Free trade agreements mooted between the European Union (EU) and several African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries could destroy the economies of poor countries, development agency Oxfam has warned.
The fate of the Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations will depend largely on what happens in respective national capitals at this juncture, suggesting that there is little point in resuming the suspended talks without a material change in the negotiating positions.
Some progress is quietly being made at the technical level on the stalled World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda trade talks but it still remains unclear whether an agreement can be reached.
