Vaile, who is also deputy prime minister, said that stalled negotiations on the crucial question of farm subsidies threatened the Doha round of global trade talks due to be wrapped up at a World Trade Organisation meeting in December.
"These negotiations are now on the brink of collapse because the European Union is refusing to make a meaningful offer on reducing its barriers to imported farm products," he said in a speech in Sydney.
Vaile, who last week travelled to Geneva to meet officials from the United States, the European Union, India and Brazil to attempt to resolve the issue, singled out France for special attention.
"The round is now stalled. The responsibility lies squarely with the European Union and particularly France, one of the world's wealthiest countries," he said. "They need to understand that they are threatening the future of global trade and cheating millions of the world's poor out of new hope."
Vaile said that the next round of World Trade Organisation talks, to be held in Hong Kong, could be postponed if progress was not made soon.
While he did not want this happen, he said "the European Union and France would need to account for their actions before the parliament of world opinion."
Opening up farm trade is expected to raise prices of commodities such as beef and sugar, offering an escape from poverty for millions of farmers in the developing world.
Australia wants the highest subsidisers of agriculture, such as the European Union, Japan and the United States, to make the biggest cuts.
Vaile said although the United States could also go further than its proposal to cut its agricultural subsidies by 60 percent, it would still reduce tariffs by 50 to 90 percent.
Vaile said the EU would have to make cuts of between 60 and 95 percent to be acceptable. "In the European Union, farmers receive a third of their income from government subsidies. Beef and veal producers get more than 70 percent of their income from subsidies," he said.
The EU has said it will make a new offer by Thursday.