The European Commission has recommended the EU’s 15 member states accept a deal on a new trade liberalization round drafted at a World Trade Organisation meeting.
The recommendation follows changes in a WTO proposal for talks that meet some of the EU's previous objections, notably on the calls for the eventual elimination of farm export subsidies.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Joe Walsh, is in Qatar, where he has been arguing export subsidies represent too substantial an element in Irish farmers' incomes to make a commitment that implies their eventual elimination.
His position is supported by the French government.
"We have recommended to member states that, if this is the final package agreed by the WTO, we would back it," an EU official said.
Trade officials said earlier that India, another key player in the talks, had also signaled a willingness to accept a deal