How to save the Doha Round: A European perspective

Abstract:

This article analyzes the rapidly changing context in which the negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization take place, takes stock of the achievements so far, and attempts to delineate the main bottlenecks and conditions for a successful result, with special attention for the role of the EU. The challenges facing the negotiators have been daunting throughout the round, which started in November 2001: the agenda is broad and ambitious, the membership has expanded to 150, developing countries with clearly diverse interests have created coalitions, and at this stage time is clearly running out. So far, the intensified pace of meetings in all sorts of coalitions and subgroups has not resulted in a breakthrough in what is referred to as the ‘triangle of make-or-break issues’: domestic support and market access in agriculture, and industrial tariffs. A fiasco would not only be a missed opportunity to contribute to the prospects of worldwide economic growth and development but would moreover jeopardize the prospects of the WTO as a multilateral institution capable of serving the interests of developing and developed countries alike.