EU asks Blair to back more aid for world's poor

Global trade talks next week risk bypassing the needs of the world’s poorest countries, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned today.

In a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Barroso said there was a risk that the talks would focus too much on demands made by rich. industrialised and rapidly developing countries at the expense of poorer nations.

“Since the EU has put development at the heart of this round, we must ensure that it stays there,” said EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen.

She said the letter asked Blair to stick to an ambitious development package and increase the amount of aid in the EU budget, which EU countries will try to agree on next week.