EU Agriculture Chief Mariann Fischer Boel is quoted in the attached article as saying that Ministers from trade powers might meet in late April or early May to seek a breakthrough in long-delayed negotiations for a global trade deal. This timing is predicated on the asumption that new compromise proposals on core areas of the World Trade Organisation talks could be floated by mediators at the end of March or in early April.
That is at one level encouraging, but at another deeply discouraging. Readers might recall that post Davos we were anticipating an WTO Ministerial at Easter. Then we were told mid-April (indeed we know of at least one global lobby group that has made bookings in Geneva around this timing and the hotels are full of Government bookings). Does this mean a further delay?
