Même Mandelson qui se fâche

A Saint-Petersbourg, le brave Tony Blair, qui continue à vivre dans un univers hollywoodien, avait obtenu des encouragements de GW Bush pour les négociations de Doha. Les transcriptions de l’enregistrement piraté qui a fait le tour du monde montrent un président US attentif aux intentions de Tony Blair, attention qui avait été confirmée par des sources officieuses US. S’agit-il du même Blair qui coordonne son action avec le Commissaire européen Peter Mandelson, un de ses amis tout proches ? Passons.

Hier les Américains ont lancé des attaques vicieuses contre l’UE, considérées comme des “insultes” par le Commissaire Mandelson, via son porte-parole. Voici ce que cela donne, d’après des sources internes européennes, — ambiance…

«  EU hits back at U.S. “insults” over WTO impasse. The European Commission hit back at U.S. criticism of its role in world trade talks on Tuesday, accusing the United States of making “a running commentary of insults” against Brussels. A top U.S. trade official told Reuters on Monday the success of the World Trade Organisation's Doha round was in the hands of the EU, India and other “protectionists” trying to divert attention from themselves by making demands on Washington. On Tuesday, Peter Power, a spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, said the bloc was keen to seek a deal in negotiations to rescue the round later this month, and was close to the position of developing countries. “The EU will go into these end-July talks with a strong sense of where a deal can be done,” Power said. “If others are prepared to enter this landing zone which is broadly shared by the EU and developing countries, we have a chance of success. But this will take detailed engagement, not a running commentary of insults aimed at the U.S.'s negotiating partners,” Power said. The WTO's Doha round was launched in 2001 in an attempt to tackle poverty and boost the global economy. But it is now two years behind schedule and risks a delay of several more without a breakthrough in the next few weeks. The EU and the United States blame one another for not making enough moves on agriculture to free up the round. Brussels also says Washington's demands on the EU and other countries are far too aggressive. Ministers and officials from the EU, the United States, India, Brazil, Australia and Japan on Monday scheduled new meetings on July 23-24 and July 28-29 in Geneva after world leaders agreed to step up their push for a WTO deal. In the interview with Reuters on Monday, the lead U.S. agriculture negotiator Jason Hafemeister said Washington could not offer more cuts in farm subsidies until the EU and other countries dropped their “stone wall of protectionism” and agreed to more substantial farm import tariff cuts. »

Certains verront dans ces apparentes (?) contradictions une tactique du gouvernement américain. Nous y verrons plutôt une illustration de plus de l’immense désordre qui le caractérise. GW promet à Blair son soutien pour les négociations de Doha de la même façon qu’il lui promet des transferts de technologies pour le JSF.

Mis en ligne le 18 juillet 2006 à 20H35