Hopes of concluding a global trade deal by the end of the year have been dealt a blow after France announced that 20 of the EU's 27 farm ministers had rejected the latest WTO proposals on cutting tariffs and subsidies in the farming sector.

"What we want to say all together is that last paper is unacceptable. It is even more unbalanced than previous papers," France's Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier said after meeting with 19 of his 27 counterparts on 18 February to discuss the latest progress in the Doha Round negotiations.

Representatives from countries with a more pro-free trade stance, such as the UK, Sweden and Denmark, did not attend the meeting.

The Council's session came ten days after World Trade Organisation mediators sought to advance the seven-year, troubled negotiation process by issuing revised drafts for agriculture, industry and services (EurActiv 19/07/07).

While the EU's Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, who negotiates on behalf of the 27 member states in the WTO, has said the farming paper forms "a good basis for further negotiations." Barnier rejected it as being "totally unbalanced between concessions that would be made and other issues like services, industry or geographical indications, where we see no progress".

France's rejection of the draft comes as no real surprise after years of intense lobbying against any large tariff and subsidy cuts, which it fears could destroy its farming sector (EurActiv 30/05/07). However, the fact that it has now claimed the backing of so many other EU members could signal bad news for the talks.

Mandelson, however, told Reuters he was unaware that more countries had joined France and other pro-farm states, such as Ireland and Poland, in criticising his more liberal position in the negotiations. "There are one or two member states who have said throughout that anything we do on agriculture is unacceptable but I didn't hear any new additions," he said.

Member states do not only have to consider the farming aspects of the WTO negotiations, but the pact as a whole. This means that any advances in provisions governing world trade in goods and services could ultimately outweigh any concessions on agriculture, as these two sectors account for a significantly larger proportion of member states' commercial activities.

The Commission has acknowledged that improvements will be needed in the industry and services papers in order to achieve the "necessary balance" between non-agricultural and agricultural market access.

But Barnier insisted that the debate on the agricultural text was far from over. "What is being prepared is a bad deal […] We prefer no deal to a bad deal."

Trade ministers from around the world are expected to meet in March or April in an attempt to salvage the deal.