Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, prides himself on his presentational skills. And that’s not just the well-cut suits. The man who helped turn Labour into New Labour and get the leftwing party back into power in Britain after 18 years in the wilderness remains proud of his achievement.
When he arrived in Brussels in 2004 he promised a similar transformation. He would put trade at the service of development, he said, as he brandished a fair trade chocolate bar and talked of his year in Africa as a volunteer aid worker.
A year later he was chewing the fat with Bono of U2 in Brussels ahead of the Live 8 concert. In Hong Kong, as the Doha development trade talks began to come off the rails, he was sporting a white Make Poverty History wristband.

So how has it all gone wrong? Oxfam, Action Aid and fair trade NGOs have long lost faith in him, claiming his rhetoric was posturing. From the other extreme, France, still a powerful voice in EU trade affairs, has repeatedly yanked back his leash when it thought he was offering too many concessions to poor countries’ farmers.
Protectionist fervour in Italy and other southern countries means he has, against his instincts, had to slap tariffs on Chinese textiles and shoes. Now he has half the developing world, along with his own country’s government, lining up to condemn the economic partnership agreements he is offering as weighted in Brussels’ favour.
Monday brought some relief as member states backed his aid for trade package to help poorer countries modernise customs and infrastructure. And on Thursday Mr Mandelson hit back at his critics in forceful terms
Approaching the halfway point of his tenure, Mr Mandelson has unveiled his Big Idea. This is to negotiate deep bilateral deals with emerging powers such as India, where progress was made last week. He also wants to tweak the anti-dumping regime to take into account the benefit of cheap imports for European consumers.
He rightly points to the positive response from across Europe. The Confederation of British Industry and the French trade ministry, in a rare moment of unity, agreed that what he calls a "hard-nosed" approach to market access is needed. But their opinions diverge over the anti-dumping review. With his usual presentational brio Mr Mandelson sold the first and wrapped the second up in it. It could yet unravel.
Andrew Bounds

September 13th, 2006 in EU commissioners | Permalink