31 March 1998 EU AGREES TO ‘MILLENNIUM’ TRADE TALKS THE European Union (EU) agreed to lead calls for a broad-based “Millennium round” of global trade negotiations at the turn of the century.

But it failed to win unanimity over proposals for bilateral trade liberalisation talks with the United States (US). Agriculture would be excluded from talks which would aim to create an

EU-US free trade area in services and eliminated tariffs on industrial goods by 2010. But France claims it would be impossible to keep agriculture and audio-visual services out of the talks.

France is prepared to use its veto to stop such discussions. * _Financial Times 31/03/98 page 6 _