Sarkozy refusing to sign trade deal

AS the world trade talks made little progress in Geneva yesterday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a critic of European Union concessions on agriculture, warned he would not sign a deal in its current form.

President Sarkozy, concerned about scaling back EU farm import tariffs, said he would not sign the deal currently proposed.

“We will not sign this agreement that is on the table if it is not modified,” Sarkozy told reporters.

Irish Farmers Association president Pádraig Walshe said France and Ireland have always stood together in support of Europe’s unique family farm structure. This structure was now in peril because of reckless concessions by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to multinational traders and South American ranchers.

Before leaving Geneva, the IFA leader said EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel gave him categorical assurances that the trade talks would not affect EU farm payments now, or after 2013.

He said Mrs Fischer Boel’s cast-iron commitment “put an end to the nonsense of Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith, who had been alleging that he was saving the payments in Geneva.”

Minister Smith, speaking in Geneva, said his objective was to “ensure the best possible tariff protection for key Irish agricultural products.”