"We are extremely pleased with the position of the commission," French Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said, adding that the panel had acted "with much courage and firmness."

Before the conference French officials had been sharply critical of Mandelson, accusing him of offering trade concessions considered excessively generous.

France's junior trade minister, Christine Lagarde, said that in World Trade Organization negotiations here since Tuesday, the European Union had come under "heavy pressure" from "odd alliances of Brazilians, Indians and Americans ..."

The EU is being pressed from all sides to offer deeper cuts in its agriculture subsidies and import tariffs but has steadfastly refused to change its position.

Lagarde also criticized the attitude of the Group of 20 developing countries headed by India and Brazil.

These countries, she charged, "who have been asking us non-stop to move on agriculture and who seemed perfectly virtuous are themselves backsliding in everything related to industry and services."