Trade Minister: Mandelson has exceeded his mandate
Mr Mandelson told the specially convened meeting of ministers in Brussels yesterday — ahead of Monday’s meeting in Geneva — that there was a 50-50 chance of a deal. He conceded that European states were not getting enough in industrial goods access relative to what the EU is putting on the table for agriculture. He said he believed that developing countries were willing to give increased market access and cut tariffs on certain European services and goods, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough or that a deal could be concluded.
“Where Mandelson is now is well short of meeting our expectations. We need a balanced deal. The commissioner has conceded too much in agriculture,” Mr McGuinness said. “He has gone too far on the mandate he received.”
He said that though services and manufactured goods were important for Ireland, there was nothing ambitious enough on the table on these areas yet to warrant such concessions.
Asked if Ireland would accept the current deal in agriculture if there were sufficient moves in goods and services, Mr McGuinness said the government would need to look at what was given in NAMA (non-agricultural market access), and in terms of what Ireland would lose in agriculture.
He said that Ireland’s veto on the EU’s accepting any eventual WTO agreement was not an issue today but it remains an option.
While the Irish have the backing of the French in insisting on a better deal for farmers, and say they will not concede anything more in agriculture, other EU countries were not as sympathetic.
The French trade minister, Anne-Marie Idrac, who chaired the meeting said, “The general feeling is the EU has exhausted its room for manoeuvre in agriculture and cannot go any further.
“The commissioner responsible for agriculture gave us some interesting and precise information. So we won’t be making any further concessions.”
While she said EU member states were united, the Swedes, Germans and British were firmly of the view that a deal should not be held back over agriculture.
Sweden’s Trade Minister Ewa Bjoerling said Mr Mandelson also had to focus on non-agricultural goods, which account for 90% of Sweden’s exports.
“In Ireland they always focus on agricultural interests and tend to forget that we have many other things to gain, like the NAMA, which is also very important,” she said.
The EU’s room for manoeuvre as the seven-year-long talks now enter their final phase is limited, not least because the European Union had been to the fore in agreeing to special concessions for developing countries when the negotiations started, and soaring food prices have since added to their case.
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