PETER MANDELSON today faces a bruising encounter with Christine Lagarde, the French Trade Minister in Luxembourg, who yesterday repeated her accusations that Mr Mandelson had exceeded his brief in the world trade talks and accused the European Trade Commissioner of failing to promote Europe’s interests.

The Trade Commissioner will today attempt to patch up the rift that opened last week following his offer to cut European farm subsidies by 70 per cent, a proposal that France rejected “as going beyond the red lines agreed in our mandate”.

The row could prove highly embarrassing for Mr Mandelson, who will present his case to the 25 members states in Luxembourg. It is thought to be the first time that an emergency meeting of foreign minsters had been called because a commissioner faced accusations that he acted beyond his powers. France will arrive mob-handed at the Luxembourg meeting with four ministers, including Philippe Douste-Blazy, the Foreign Minister, and Mme Lagarde.

In a speech made to the London School of Economics yesterday, Mme Lagarde continued her attack, implying that Europe was being poorly led in the Doha trade negotiations and was adopting too weak a posture.

Suggesting that Europe should go on the offensive, she said: “Europe has been too long in a defensive position on many issues. This is not the best tactic because our partners are free to take us where they want, when they want — a fear for any soldier.”

She suggested Europe was bargaining away its position too early and in a direct criticism of Mr Mandelson’s leadership, she compared his role to the pilot of a “tall ship” who needed to ensure his passengers were comfortable and at ease when he changed direction. “He should stay within the limit of his mandate and has to carefully look in his rear mirror to check that nobody is ill at ease,” she said.

Mr Mandelson went on a counter-offensive yesterday, insisting that he had kept to his negotiating brief in the world trade talks. On the eve of an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers summoned to judge on Mr Mandelson’s actions, he told Le Monde newspaper: “We remained fully within the mandate, in particular with respect to the Common Agricultural Policy as reformed in June 2003.”

He insisted that Paris simply hadn’t substantiated its claim that he had exceeded the mandate. One of his aides said: “France has made public statements, but they haven’t given any evidence that we went beyond our mandate — no documents, nothing.”

If the EU foreign ministers decide Mr Mandelson has acted beyond his powers, then he will have to take back the offer of 70 per cent cut in trade-distorting farm subsidies — and setting back the trade talks.

The row is a spin-off of the dispute between Britain and France over reform of the EU farm subsidies. A summit in June collapsed after Tony Blair refused to countenance cuts in the British budget rebate until Common Agricultural Policy spending is curbed.

However, a quarter of all EU farm subsidies — about €10 billion (£6.8 billion) a year — goes to French farmers, and Jacques Chirac, the French President, has pledged to protect the policy at all costs.

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