EU's Barroso unhappy with Obama stance on trade

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said he was 'not happy' with U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's position on free trade.

Speaking at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown here, Barroso said the EU needs to open up talks with the United States on securing a world trade deal.

Obama has said he would seek to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to strengthen the enforcement of labour and environmental standards.

His defeated Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton, also wanted to see a renegotiation of NAFTA, threatening to withdraw from the agreement if that was not done.

'I am not so happy with some of the statements made so far by the Democratic candidates on trade,' Barroso said. 'I think we have to discuss this very openly with our American friends because we need the United States of America to be in the front line for open economies in the world.'

'What Brown said about the opportunity that still exists for Doha I fully subscribe (to) but we need the United States of America in that position too.'

Brown remains optimistic a deal can be done on the stalled Doha round of world trade talks aimed at opening up markets to aid developing countries.