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News Releases
No. 70/07
June 18, 2007
WTO NEGOTIATORS TO MEET IN POTSDAM FOR G4 MINISTERIAL
WTO negotiators from the EU, India, Brazil and the US
will meet in Potsdam, Germany, on June 19 to begin five
days of talks intended to
 build greater convergence
between themselves in an attempt to conclude a
successful
Doha agreement by the end of 2007. Any
convergence between these negotiators could then become
the basis for a wider negotiation among all members of
the WTO in Geneva. The EU will be represented at the
Ministerial meeting by EU
Trade Commissioner
Peter
Mandelson and EU
Agriculture Commissioner
Mariann
Fischer Boel (left).
 EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson
(right) said: "This
meeting of G4 negotiators cannot finish the Doha Round,
but it will determine if Doha can be finished."
WTO negotiators agreed earlier this year to a concerted
effort to achieve a final agreement in the Doha Round of
WTO trade talks by the end of 2007. Because concluding
the detail of agreement would take months, the broad
framework of an agreement must be complete before the
summer.
G8 leaders called for the conclusion of the
talks at G8 summit in Heiligendamm two weeks ago.
Practicalities
Talks will be held in the Cecilienhof in Potsdam. They
will begin at lunch on Tuesday, 19 June, and continue
until Saturday, 23 June. There is an allowance for talks
to continue into Sunday, 24 June.
This is a working meeting that is expected to maintain a
very low profile. There is no
press accreditation and no press access to the
Cecilienhof. There are no planned briefings and no
scheduled press conferences. While it is possible that
participants will meet the press at the end of the
talks, no such arrangements have been made at this time.
Press credentials would be required for attendance at
any such briefing.
Further Contact Information
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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