(LONDON) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is "undermining" the European Union's position at world trade talks, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in an interview Tuesday.

Hitting back at criticism from Sarkozy that Mandelson and WTO chief Pascal Lamy were trying to force an unfavourable trade deal on Europe, the former British minister told the BBC: "Yes I am being undermined and Europe's negotiating position in the world trade talks is being weakened."

Mandelson noted that his mandate to negotiate at the talks had been agreed by the EU's 27 member states, and said Sarkozoy's latest comments "will make it harder for me."

"We've never allowed a world trade round to fail in the past, and it would be extremely damaging if we were to do so on this occasion," he said.

"I regret the undermining of my own position at what is a very very crucial time in the world trade talks.

"This is going to succeed or fail in the coming weeks ... Our negotiating strength in Europe comes from our unity."

Mandelson praised Sarkozy as a "man of great energy and dynamism -- he has the ability to unite the European Union and offer it leadership in some very important directions, not only in relation to the Lisbon Treaty (the EU's new reform treaty)."

Sarkozy, whose country took over the rotating six-month EU presidency on Tuesday, has long been fiercely critical of the British EU commissioner, accusing him of offering excessively generous concessions on farming in fraught global negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

The latest row was sparked by Sarkozy saying in an interview with French television channel France 3 on Monday that he would block any WTO agreement that would sacrifice farm production on the "altar of global liberalism."

The Doha round of trade liberalisation negotiations, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001, has long struggled, with all sides refusing to make big concessions.

Lamy, who has called a special meeting of the main WTO players later this month, says that progress on trade in agriculture and industrial products before the end of the month is pivotal to the overall talks.

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