A delegation of 30 MEPs will be taking part in the meeting and a parallel session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO. The meeting itself will be attended by trade ministers from all 148 members of the WTO from 13th to 18th December.

The Parliament strongly supports the placing of development at the heart of the round, stressing that the negotiations must help in eradicating poverty. Emphasising the need for a balanced outcome covering every key sector the resolution calls on all stakeholders, especially in more advanced countries, to assume their responsibilities to bring the round closer to a successful conclusion.

The resolution says the Hong Kong meeting must agree on the phasing out of all export subsidies by all developed country WTO members in parallel and stresses the need for a substantial reduction in trade distorting domestic support and a significant improvement in market access, including reform of the CAP.

Parliament calls for the acceleration of Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations, saying trade barriers between developing countries as well as between developed and developing countries are an obstacle to sustainable development. Advanced countries should open their markets to the least developed countries, while the problem of preference erosion should also be addressed. The principle of less-than-full reciprocity needs to be respected, as does the issue of the significant government income from industrial tariffs in many developing countries. There needs to be adequate protection of nascent industries, promotion of industrialisation and diversification and safeguarding of jobs, especially for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). All trading partners, where justified, should also remove their non-tariff barriers.

Calling for Hong Kong to "lay the foundations for an ambitious agreement on trade in services" the resolution says market access for EU service provides should be enhanced while also safeguarding WTO members' ability to regulate their service sectors. While calling for substantive progress in this field, MEPs say an exception should be made for health, education and audiovisual services. They call on developed and emerging WTO members to make efforts of similar ambition as the EU's offer of January 2005 and for supplementary approaches to this field to be investigated, with due regard for the interests of LDCs.

Trade coupled with aid and debt relief is essential to meet the 2015 Millennium Goals, says the resolution, calling for concrete results on development aspects of the round at Hong Kong. Special and Differential Treatment should be an integral part of the WTO agreements. Developed countries should give tariff- and quota-free access to all goods from LDCs, along the lines of the EU's Everything but Arms plan. The resolution supports the idea of a "free round" for LDCs and vulnerable countries. There also needs to be more trade related technical assistance for LDCs and a coherent "aid for trade" facility to help poorer countries make the most of any trade deal. The text calls for an urgent and permanent solution to the issue of TRIPs and TRIMs (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Trade Related Investment Measures) to ensure access to medicines for countries with no manufacturing capacity facing public health concerns.

Among other issues dealt with by the resolution, there is a call for stronger multilateral rules on anti-dumping. surveillance and countervailing measures, taking account of the needs of developing countries and LDCs. MEPs also stress the need to take account of social, environmental and cultural issues. They call for Parliament to be kept fully informed throughout the negotiations, noting the EP's right of assent to the conclusion of trade rounds, agreed at the end of the Uruguay Round. Finally, they say reform of the WTO is much needed, including better negotiating procedures and greater efficiency and transparency, and a better Dispute Settlement Mechanism.

Also last week in Brussels, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson met the G90 leaders group of developing countries at their Ministerial Summit. G90 Ministers discussed the group’s position in the Doha Round ahead of December’s Hong Kong meeting. Commissioner Mandelson urged the G90 to act decisively to ensure that the interests of all developing countries are strongly defended in Hong Kong. Commissioner Mandelson reiterated the EU’s proposal for agreement of a package of development measures at Hong Kong.

Speaking after the meeting Commissioner Mandelson said: “The Doha Round is different from all previous trade rounds because it is focused on ensuring that the world’s poorest countries benefit from the global trading system. Any final outcome that does not reflect their needs will be unacceptable to Europe. Through its preferential market access schemes Europe already has the most open market for developing country agricultural goods in the world. Europe takes more farm exports from Africa than the rest of the world combined, and most of that produce enters the EU market tariff and quota free. The EU has proposed steep cuts in its agricultural tariffs – the steepest we have ever offered. But we have not and will not agree to cuts that would eliminate the preferential access we offer to African and Caribbean countries, as others' proposals imply. For the sake of development a serious negotiation must now converge on ambitious but realistic middle ground. The voice of the G90 must not be absent from that debate.”