UPDATE 2-EU says latest WTO negotiating texts lack balance

(Adds details, reaction)

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - New negotiating texts aimed at pushing forward global trade talks lack balance and should have offered more progress in services, an official at the European Union's executive branch said on Friday.

Earlier this month, World Trade Organisation (WTO) mediators sought to advance long-running trade talks by issuing revised drafts for agriculture, industry and services.

While the revised farm and industry drafts made no changes to existing proposals for headline cuts in tariffs and subsidies, they did narrow the gaps on many technical issues, reflecting intense negotiations over the past six months.

For the European Commission, which negotiates foreign trade on behalf of the EU's 27 governments, the revised farm text looked far better than those for industry and services.

"The EU believes that the necessary balance between the NAMA (non-agricultural market access) and the Agri texts has not been found," the European Commission official said.

"The EU would also have hoped for more from the services text, which does not contain guidance for setting the level of ambition of the services negotiations."

Much of the work in the talks has turned on how both rich and poor countries can shield sensitive farm products from excessive imports, and how developing countries can protect fledgling industries from the full force of competition.