More signs of Doha Round’s demise

Relentless determination (or mad optimism) from the Director-General notwithstanding, the vital signs of the WTO's Doha round continue to deteriorate while even erstwhile friends are starting to mutter—sensibly—about pulling the tubes before the patient becomes an embarrassing stink. Disaffected connections, of course, have no hesitation in pronouncing the final sentence:

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out a free-trade deal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after Ireland's rejection of the European Union (EU)'s Lisbon treaty in a referendum. 'It would be highly unrealistic to keep wanting to negotiate a deal where we haven't received anything on services, nothing on industry... and which would cut farm output by 20 percent while 800 million people are dying of hunger,' he told journalists here in the early hours of Friday morning. 'Frankly, there's only one person who thinks like that and it's (EU Trade Commissioner) Peter Mandelson and it's not France's position,' Sarkozy added. 'I say it in the clearest way, for us, on this basis, it's No.' extract from: Forbes [emphasis added]