Pascal Lamy of France, formally appointed on Thursday to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) at a crucial moment in its history, has had a long career as a backroom strategist and the EU's trade guru.
Building on five years inside the system as Europe's trade commissioner, Lamy, a fervent advocate of "controlled" globalization, had exuded confidence during the WTO leadership race.
His final opponent in the leadership contest, Carlos Perez del Castillo of Uruguay, an accomplished trade diplomat, bowed out earlier this month after Lamy came out on top in diplomats' search for a consensus candidate.
Perez del Castillo had championed the right of developing countries to head the WTO as a counterweight to European and US dominance of other international financial institutions.
But Lamy managed to seize the high ground despite his background as a product of France's administrative elite.
He portrayed himself as a bridge builder between industralized countries and the ever more influential developing nations in the 148 member WTO.
As the EU's trade commissioner from 1999 until last year, Lamy sided with developing countries by fighting to reduce agricultural export subsidies, even though his stance drew criticism from his native France.
But he baulked at withdrawing the "Singapore issues" -- further liberalization of investments, public procurement and competition policy -- from global trade talks even though developing countries firmly resisted them at the WTO's ill-fated ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003.
The 58 year-old French socialist is now vowing to tackle troubled negotiations on a new round of trade liberalization from the moment he takes office on Sept. 1.
The negotiations, launched in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, are framed by a sluggish system he once dismissed as "medieval."
In Brussels, his former masters at the EU are in little doubt that he is the right choice.
"Pascal Lamy is, with his knowledge of trade matters, his international experience, his concern for development and his constant search for consensus, uniquely qualified to lead the WTO at this defining moment," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Although he headed some of the EU's bruising trade battles with the US in recent years, the Frenchman also found supporters in the US establishment.
"It just may be that Mr. Lamy is the right man to persuade his fellow countrymen and other Europeans to liberalize their markets -- especially their politically sensitive agriculture markets," the Wall Street Journal commented recently.
Born near Paris on April 8, 1947, Lamy graduated from France's elite National School of Public Administration after attending top French politics and economics schools. He was an advisor to Jacques Delors in 1981 to 1983 when the latter was French economics minister, and an aide to former prime minister Pierre Mauroy in 1983 to 1984.
He followed Delors to the EU's executive Commission, acting behind the scenes as his chief of staff for 10 years, then joined the management of the French bank Credit Lyonnais in 1994 to 1999.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique