BRUSSELS, Oct 25: The European Union’s top trade negotiators said on Wednesday their long-nurtured ambition of launching a new round of global trade liberalization talks appeared finally within reach.

I think we’ve now reached the point where a balanced and ambitious round in line with the Union’s main objectives can be envisaged, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

He was briefing legislators on preparations for the key World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Doha, Qatar, now little more than two weeks away, when trade ministers will discuss the launch of a new trade round.

Of course we haven’t got there yet. We are now on the last crucial strait leading up to Doha, Lamy said.

Lamy said work was still needed in areas like agriculture, where he said a draft on the table at the WTO’s Geneva headquarters seemed to pre-judge the result of the negotiations.

The EU is prepared for more liberalization of agriculture but opposes calls from the Cairns Group of major food exporting countries for a goal of eliminating farm export subsidies.

The 15-nation EU wants the new round to update the WTO’s rules to make sure they allow member countries to protect the environment and their citizens’ health.

We are particularly concerned by the unambitious nature of what’s on the table (on environment), Lamy said, adding that including environmental issues in the round was a political necessity for the EU.

The EU has been pushing for years for the launch of a comprehensive new trade round, encompassing investment and competition rules and environmental issues as well as the more traditional subjects of agriculture and industrial tariffs.

But attempts to launch a new round at the last WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle in December 1999 failed amid arguments between industrialised and developing countries and disputes over agriculture.

Developing nations still complain they saw little benefit from earlier talks, but EU sources say support for a round has grown in recent months, partly to counter a slowdown in the world economy following the September 11, attacks on US cities.

The train is leaving the platform. Most of the passengers are on board. It’s up to those who have been hesitating to decide quickly if they want to get a window seat or if they want to pull the emergency brake, Carl said.—Reuters