EU assures no concessions at WTO

EUROPEAN UNION Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has assured farm and co-op leaders that Brussels will make no concessions in the world trade talks, beyond the mandate it has been given by member states.

She gave the pledge at a meeting with the presidents of agricultural bodies, COPA and COGECA, on the latest developments in the WTO negotiations.

Presidents Rudolf Schwarzbock of COPA and Donal Cashman of COGECA, who collectively represent 15 million people working on EU farms and more than 40,000 agricultural co-operatives, raised strong concerns about the direction of the WTO negotiations are taking.