EU Commissioner said to have bullied in negotiations
Updated
Tense trade negotiations between Pacific Island trade ministers and a European Union trade commissioner have been revealed after a series of letters was leaked to the media. The letters, between European Union Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson and the Cook Islands Foreign Minister, Wilkie Rasmussen show a far from happy working relationship. In his correspondence, Mr Mandelson asks Mr Rasmussen to publicly correct what he calls "unnecessarily offensive" and personal comments about Mr Mandelson's negotiation style, made after the EU-ACP joint Parliamentary Assembly in November last year. But Mr Rasmussen stands by his comments, and says the commissioner took a harsh and unneccessarily domineering approach, with an agenda to divide and manipulate the island nations. Mr Rasmussen says he was just responding to a direct question about whether the Commissioner's negotiating style was damaging to their cause.
Presenter:Megan Flamer
Islands Foreign Minister, Wilkie Rasmussen; Pacific Network on Globalisation Coordinator, Maureen Penjueli; Advocacy and research coordinator from Oxfam New Zealand, Nick Braxton
