The European Union (EU) Monday called for more concessions from emerging economies, urging them to open their industrial markets in the Doha Round of world trade talks.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) partners should "make meaningful contributions to the negotiations, commensurate with their level of development," foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states said after a meeting.
"For emerging economies, in industrial tariffs in particular, this requires granting additional market access," they said in a document.
The Doha Round of the WTO trade negotiations, which was launched in 2001 with the aim of bringing down trade barriers to promote development, has been stalled due to major differences.
Developing countries have been pressing for greater access to agricultural markets in developed countries, which are in return seeking better industrial market access to developing countries.
The EU foreign ministers said the final agreement should be a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced one covering agriculture and non-agricultural market access and including services, rules, trade facilitation and geographical indications.
In a bid for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round this year, the WTO negotiators released new compromise proposals one month ago on agricultural and non-agricultural market access.
However, the new proposals have been opposed by several EU member states.
EU foreign ministers said they will seek further improvements of the negotiating texts needed to move the negotiations forward.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the talks in the coming days were crucial for the final agreement and that a WTO meeting at the ministerial level had to take place in April to fit in with the U.S. electoral calendar.
"I hope they give some hope for convergence but, based on the signals we've been receiving in the last couple of weeks, I am not yet hugely encouraged," he said Sunday before a meeting with EU trade ministers.
Mandelson warned last month that the Doha Round of world trade talks was facing "a high risk of failure."
Source:Xinhua
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