Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004 |
||
|
|
||
|
Opinion
-
Letters EU clarifies
This is with reference to "Agriculture will be deal-maker or deal-breaker in WTO talks" (Business Line, June 24) in which Dr D. R. Agarwal, Director, SRI (Swadeshi Research Institute) makes unfounded accusations against the EU . The idea that we are trying to "divide and rule" is absurd. The EU was not behind the creation of either the G-20 or the G-90, two separate groups of developing countries formed around the time of the WTO Cancun meeting to advance developing country interests. But we welcome their formation. These groups simply reflect the new realities of the world trading system, and we have, therefore, tried to address their concerns in the on-going WTO negotiations. Last month, the EU Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, proposed that the poorest and most vulnerable countries (essentially the G-90) should only pay a modest price in the WTO negotiations, given their particular situation. At the same time, we are working to agree on a set of measures that would give all developing countries a fair deal ("special and differential treatment" in the jargon of Geneva). We have also offered to move forward decisively on export subsidies, as long as there is, in parallel, equivalent treatment of other forms of export support, and a fair deal on other areas of the agricultural negotiations (market access and domestic support). The EU has shown that it is ready to put its money where its mouth is, so rather than inventing ideas that we haven't had, why not look into the proposals that we have already floated? They are on our Web site at http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade. Arancha Gonzalez Spokeswoman for Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy European Commission Brussels Letters to the editor and contributions can be sent by e-mail to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in
More Stories on : Letters | WTO | Agriculture
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|