European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson urged the EU governments on Monday to allow a flexible negotiating mandate ahead of this month's World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong.

"Send me to those talks with flexibility. Do not tie my hands. I want to be able to do the best for everyone," said the trade commissioner while meeting with Oxfam representative Colin Firth.

Mandelson's statement will be seen as a plea to France and the United Kingdom to bury the hatchet over agricultural subsidies within the 25-nation bloc

Internal EU splits exist alongside US-EU divisions over agriculture subsidies as the wrangling threatens to block progress towards a WTO trade deal in Hong Kong next week.

Colin Firth, a famous British actor, presented Mandelson with a petition to make trade fairer for the developing world.

"Ten million people have signed this petition and that number is growing very rapidly. 80 percent of signatories are from the developing world," Firth told the EU trade chief.

"I cannot believe the brilliant minds cannot find some way of unlocking those talks," he added.

Mandelson insisted on taking an upbeat view of the protests from NGOs such as Oxfam, urging EU citizens to continue to air their grievances.

"Keep raising your voices, keep pushing us forward," he said. " Keep showing us you are impatient and not tolerant of any outcome that is not satisfactory for the developing world."

Source: Xinhua