Europe's top trade official warned France and other EU farming states not to tie his hands in global trade talks after Paris protested he had offered too much at the expense of the bloc's farmers.
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, facing questioning from EU ministers today about his offers on farm subsidies and import tariffs, said he needed freedom to negotiate a good deal for Europe later this year.
"Surely it would be the wrong reaction, and a terrible mistake for the EU, at the first sign of serious movement in the talks . . . to lose confidence and pull in our horns," Mr Mandelson said in a statement as the meeting began.
The World Trade Organization's (WTO) 148 member countries are due to meet in Hong Kong in December for what is considered the last chance for a global trade deal under the WTO's current negotiating round, begun four years ago.
Mr Mandelson was explaining his position to EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg after France, the biggest recipient of EU aid to farmers, and 12 other farming countries expressed concern about his tactics in talks before the Hong Kong meeting.
"The world trade talks are very important and they need to go forwards, not backwards," Mr Mandelson said on arrival.
Faced with calls to slow down from within Europe, he will be pressed by the US and Brazil to offer more on farm trade when talks resume in Geneva on Wednesday and Thursday.
The main trading nations are searching for common ground, particularly on agriculture, to clear the way for a global trade deal to be agreed in December.