EU Trade Commissioner-Designate ‘Unsure’ over Doha Conclusion in 2010

The European Union’s trade commissioner-designate said on Tuesday he was unsure whether the Doha round of global trade talks would be concluded this year or in 2011.

“I’m personally confident that we are going to conclude the Doha round — whether it will be in 2010 or 2011 … I am quite confident about it,” Karel de Gucht told a European Parliament hearing.

“We are agreeing on 90 percent of the topics we have to address in Doha,” he said.

World leaders pledged last year to conclude the Doha talks, aimed at liberalising global trade, in 2010.

De Gucht also said climate talks should be part of Doha negotiations under the World Trade Organization and that there was no alternative to a Doha deal.

(Reporting by Darren Ennis, editing by Dale Hudson)