Europe fears losing out on WTO deal

Brussels: European business, long seen as a winner from any global trade deal, is worried it could lose out if big developing nations such as India and China refuse to open up their economies, a senior EU business leader said.

"We are strong supporters of the World Trade Organisation [WTO] negotiations because Europe is the most open economy in the world and we are the largest traders in the world," Philippe de Buck, secretary-general of BusinessEurope, said yesterday.

"But the longer they go on, the more I hear from some areas of business that there is a little bit of a lack of trust in the process, and that is a worry," he said.

Talks are accelerating before an expected push by ministers of WTO countries in May to settle the long-stalled Doha round.

The global trade liberalisation talks were initially billed as a way to fight poverty and boost the world economy. But they have missed a string of deadlines since they were launched in 2001. The round could be delayed by several more years if there is no deal soon, trade officials say, eyeing the change in the US presidency and a new European Commission next year.

Problems

De Buck said Europe, like developing countries, had its share of problems caused by globalisation, such as jobs moving to parts of the world with cheaper labour costs and soaring trade deficits with new export powerhouses such as China. "If we cannot, at the same time, have some true benefit from globalisation, then we are the losers."

BusinessEurope represents 20 million companies in Europe.

Negotiators have made progress on sensitive farm issues, one of the big sticking points. But differences remain over how far large developing economies will open their markets in industrial goods and services, the main areas of interest for the EU, US and other developed economies.