Date of release : 07-01-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

On Friday, 7 January 2005, Nicolas Schmit, the Luxembourg Minister Delegate of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, received François Loos, the French Minister Delegate of Foreign Trade.

Following their meeting Mr Schmit stated that regarding the matter of the candidacy for the post of Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), "former EU Commissioner Pascal Lamy is the European candidate."

The focus of the discussions of the two ministers was on recent developments in the area of multilateral commerce, particularly on the state of the negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda. On this subject, Mr Schmit said that "the Luxembourg Presidency, and in accordance with the Member States, and above all, with the Commission, the European Union must begin preparations for what we hope to be the final phase of the Doha round."

The ministers also discussed the coordination of the tasks within the General Affairs and External Relations Council, in which international commerce plays an integral role.

 Finally, they addressed the reform of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for developing countries. This question should be finally settled during the Luxembourg Presidency, said Mr Schmit. The ministers ended their talks with some reflections on possible measures of providing commercial support to assist in the reconstruction of the countries that were hardest hit by the tsunami in Asia.