The World Trade Organisation: A wager on Pascal

The WTO puts its faith in Pascal Lamy

MISSILE, monk and marathon man. There are not many figures in the grey world of trade negotiations who inspire such vivid imagery. But Pascal Lamy, the European Union's former trade commissioner, selected on May 13th as the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is just such a character. He has been compared to an Exocet, because of his brisk and unerring manner; likened to a monk, by virtue of his austere appearance; and admired as a runner of marathons, whose stamina has been tested as much in the negotiating room as on the roads.

Mr Lamy has been an occasional critic of the organisation he will lead. He once described the WTO's negotiating procedures as “medieval”. But its procedure for picking him as its next chief was surprisingly enlightened. Four candidates stood. All 148 members were sounded out. After each round of consultations, the candidate enjoying the least support stood aside. As a result, the WTO will have a leader in command of his brief and with broad support from the membership. If only every international organisation were so fortunate.

Mr Lamy's term, which does not begin until September, starts very late in the day for the Doha round of global trade talks. In December, Hong Kong will host the summit at which the big political decisions on a global trade deal must be taken, if the technocrats are to have time to do the rest. The director-general cannot force a consensus that does not exist; but he can steer members towards a consensus they might not otherwise find. However tightly run the summit is, it may still fail. But if it is poorly run, it almost certainly will.

Mr Lamy must still prove his credibility as an honest broker of this deal. As the EU's trade commissioner, he was a partisan, fighting Europe's cause. He is already distancing himself from that role. By the final round of consultations this month, his support was confined neither to Europe nor to former colonies, with which the EU has cut exclusive trade deals. He also won over some of the more influential members of the G20, a group of developing nations pushing for bigger trade concessions from the rich world.

They probably concluded that any EU trade commissioner, if he is doing his job, is bound to defend some dubious causes. An advocate's skill is judged by how well he makes his case, not by the merits of the case itself.

The WTO puts its faith in Pascal Lamy.