DOHA, Nov 9: The European Union is willing to go the “extra mile” to see a new trade liberalization programme launched but cannot do it alone, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said here on Friday.

Speaking to reporters just hours before a five-day meeting of World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministers was due to open, Lamy said he believed they had already covered 80 per cent of the ground.

He compared the situation now to that of two years ago when WTO ministers last met — in the US city of Seattle — but bitterly failed to agree on what should be included in a new round of trade talks.

At that time, Lamy said, they had only covered 50 per cent of the distance beforehand.

“Europe has listened, Europe has moved and Europe is willing to go the extra mile. But Europe cannot do so alone,” Lamy told a news conference.

Franz Fischler, EU farm commissioner, told the same news briefing the EU was ready for a deal and prepared for give and take.

“I can assure you that in Doha the European Union will play a constructive role in the agriculture talks. We have already proven that when we say ‘constructive’ we mean business,” Fischler told reporters.

He said about 40 countries shared the EU’s views on the importance for agriculture of “non-trade” concerns, such as food safety, environmental protection and the future of rural economies.

“It would be a big mistake to think that the WTO should only be about trade,” Fischler said.

“Trade interests cannot be placed above legitimate concerns of our society, about the food they eat, about the environment they live in about the development of their rural areas.”

Lamy stressed that the EU delegation had come to Doha in a “determined and constructive frame of mind to agree on a programme of negotiations.”

“In Seattle, the EU had a united front. Well, two years on, we have been able to adjust our position and retain the full support of our 15 member states,” he said.

He cited investment and competition, as well as the environment as areas where the 15-nation bloc had shifted.

Fischler said the EU wanted to see the talks in Doha agree to go further in helping developing countries benefit from special treatment in agricultural trade with industrialized nations.

“The EU has already shown its willingness to treat developing countries in a special way,” he maintained.

But he remained firm on Washington’s main gripe against the EU — the provision of export subsidies for farmers.—AFP