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Geneva: A World Trade Organisation (WTO) mediator issued proposals on Monday to open up services such as telecommunications and banking, as France decried last week's negotiating texts on farming and industrial goods as a step backwards.
But EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said he had "overwhelming support" to press on with the Doha round talks to open up world trade, which are now in their seventh year.
The new services text, replacing a previous one issued in February, set no dates for revised offers or final commitments in the services negotiations.
And the document, by Mexico's WTO ambassador, Fernando de Mateo y Venturini, who chairs the services talks, showed big differences between developed and developing countries on how to proceed.
"Members shared the view that substantial efforts were needed to reach a successful conclusion of the negotiations," Mateo said in his report, summarising progress in the services talks in the Doha round over the past few months.
Services account for 70 per cent or more of most developed economies and 50 per cent or more of many developing ones. But they account for only 19 per cent of world trade.
Anne-Marie Idrac, France's junior trade minister, said the proposals were "less ambitious and balanced than ever".
Diplomats who attended a meeting between European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the bloc's foreign ministers said France and other countries such as Ireland argued strongly that there was no basis for negotiating a WTO deal.
Support
But Mandelson said he had backing from the bloc to press on and try to secure improvements for the EU. "The view expressed that the conditions do not exist for the round to be concluded successfully was a very small minority view," he said.
"The overwhelming majority of member states are in favour of remaining engaged and taking forward the negotiation."
An deal would involve the EU opening its protected farm markets by cutting agricultural tariffs, and the US cutting its trade-distorting farm subsidies, while developing countries cut tariffs to open up their industries.
Delays: Talks face major test
The WTO's Doha round faces a crucial test in the next few weeks, after which the US presidential election may cause years of further delays in the negotiations.
Ministers from WTO countries are expected to meet in June or July to seek a breakthrough in the talks, which they want to wrap up by the end of the year.
Mediators last week published proposals in agriculture and industrial goods, which together with Mateo's paper, aim to serve as a blueprint for that deal.
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