Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I remain committed to an ambitious outcome to the current round of WTO negotiations. As an open economy dependent on trade, Ireland has much to gain from a successful conclusion to the negotiations. However, I have insisted, and will continue to insist, that any final agreement must be balanced. It must be balanced across all of the negotiating pillars, namely, market access for industrial goods, services, trade rules, trade facilitation and agriculture. It must be balanced between what the European Union is being asked to concede in the negotiations and what it is gaining in return. In the agriculture negotiations, it must be balanced across the three main negotiating pillars — domestic supports, export competition and market access.

The European Union has undertaken Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, reform in preparation for the negotiations and it has made a generous offer to reduce trade-distorting subsidies and to provide substantial special and differential treatment for developing countries. It is now time for the other negotiating partners to make equivalent contributions if an ambitious and equitable final agreement is to be reached. In that regard, I am very concerned that the recent negotiating paper from the chairman of the WTO Committee on Agriculture lacks balance. I have difficulty with the proposed commitments and timing in the document. I am determined that European and Irish agriculture must not be sacrificed in the effort to strike a WTO deal.

Any WTO deal must not undermine the CAP reforms already undertaken in good faith by the European Union in preparation for the current WTO round. My overriding objective in the agriculture negotiations is to ensure that the terms of the agreement can be accommodated within the framework of the reformed CAP. This represents the limit of the European Commission's negotiating mandate in these negotiations and must be respected.

There is no doubt that the overall process is at a critical juncture and the Government is fully aware of this. As I stated, we have concerns about the direction of the talks and no stone is being left unturned to address them.

My Department's officials and I have consistently and continuously outlined the Irish position in the clearest possible terms at official and political level. We have had numerous bilateral meetings with the Commission. We have developed and maintained valuable contacts with like-minded member states on this issue. I recently travelled to France specifically in respect of the WTO talks for a bilateral meeting with the French Agriculture Minister, Mr. Michel Barnier. Prior to the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers this week, I attended a meeting of the "group of 14" WTO member countries plus member states at which there was a full discussion of the WTO negotiations.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

This group has grown to 20 member states. The Secretary General and senior officials of my Department visited Poland some weeks ago, also in respect of the WTO talks, again with the intention of maintaining strong support for a deal that does not damage EU agriculture. I have continued to express my view forcefully at meetings of the Council of Agriculture Ministers, most recently at this week's meeting on 18 February. I emphasised the absolute necessity that the Commission remain within the terms of the negotiating mandate. I will continue to work closely with like-minded Ministers in other member states to seek support for my position.

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