French President opposes further EU concessions in DDA

UNCLAS PARIS 000835 SIPDIS SIPDIS BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA; STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA; USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST; OCRA/CURTIS ONA/RIEMENSCHNEIDER FAA/YOUNG; EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU FR SUBJECT: French President opposes further EU concessions in DDA negotiations. ¶1. During an opening speech at the annual agricultural show in Paris on March 3rd, French President Jacques Chirac stated that he was -quote- extremely shocked by Mr Mandelson's giving more and more concessions without receiving compensation from the United States for concessions on agriculture and from emerging countries on industry and services. - end quote - ¶2. President Chirac called all on Europeans to stand -quote- strong as rock -end quote- and not yield on Mr. Mandelson's proposals, which he condemned harshly. He criticized Mandelson's ambition to conclude the DDA quickly and stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports France's opposition to further concessions in the DDA. The EU Trade Commissioner's office responded that Mr. Mandelson's proposals were within the EU negotiating mandate. ¶3. On March 5th, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, trying to calm the situation, said that France does not intend to block the DDA negotiations but wants to bring -quote- some common sense -end quote- back into the talks. He repeated that agriculture should not be the only adjustable factor in the negotiations. Stapleton