European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson criticised France's stance over talks aimed at a new world trade deal, saying Paris was being excessively "defensive" in its insistence on limiting cuts in agricultural subsidies.
"France's position is hard, needlessly defensive because the European Union is in a strong position at the (World Trade Organisation)," he was quoted as saying in an interview with French business daily Les Echos published on Monday.
Mandelson held talks last week with French ministers including Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin as negotiations aimed at a new world trade deal reach a critical stage.
French officials, traditionally among the strongest defenders of farming interests in the EU, made clear they were not prepared to accept further concessions on agricultural subsidies beyond an offer made by the bloc in 2005.
With presidential elections coming up in April and a powerful farmers' lobby to be considered, prospects of a softening in France's stance may be unlikely but Mandelson said he hoped the talks "would not become a political football."
The October 2005 offer proposed average trade cuts of 39 percent. But Mandelson has since proposed adding more than 10 percentage points to the cuts if other trade partners are prepared to make serious contributions.
The WTO's Doha round of negotiations to lower barriers to trade around the world were launched in 2001 to help poor countries export more and give the global economy a boost.
But they were suspended in July due to differences among trade powers, mainly over agriculture. The talks risk delays of several years if they cannot be finished in the coming months.
Mandelson said his meetings in Paris had been "good" and he said he was optimistic an agreement could be reached with the United States that would permit a revival of negotiations.
"Someone has to be optimistic," he said. "And when you look at the figures, the differences aren't as important as people say. The problem is that everyone exports their internal constraints to the WTO," he said.
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