The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, says a deal at the World Trade Organisation talks soon is in Ireland's interest.
Noting that Ireland has 4% of the global market in traded services, Mr Barroso said a deal that opened more markets to Irish exporters was a good thing.
He said a deal sooner rather than later would guarantee the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy agreed four years ago. But he warned that delaying the deal could mean that a review of the CAP starting in the autumn could result in a less favourable outcome for farmers.
Mr Barroso's comments came as more than 10,000 farmers took part in a protest march against current EU proposals for the WTO negotiations in Dublin city centre.
The farmers gathered at Leinster House this afternoon and marched to Dublin Castle where Mr Barroso was addressing the Forum on Europe.
Those involved are unhappy about the stance EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is taking in the current negotiations on world trade. They say the beef and dairy sector could be virtually wiped out.
Meanwhile, the Commission president said he was not in favour of harmonised corporate tax rates, and said any changes to the EU tax regime would be decided by unanimity.
He stressed that Ireland had a veto over tax policy, and would retain this if the Lisbon Treaty were passed in the referendum on June 12.
