European finance ministers yesterday criticised the US for disrupting initiatives on climate change and tax havens and said the Bush administration was undermining co-operation against global problems.

The OECD campaign to clamp down on tax havens was not on the agenda at this week's meetings. But ministers pressed the US on the issue after Mr Paul O'Neill, US Treasury Secretary, last week said he opposed forced tax harmonisation.

A US government representative, Mr Glen Hubbard, yesterday tried to clarify Mr O'Neill's remarks, saying the Treasury Secretary supported competition between tax jurisdictions in principle but backed the OECD's drive to increase transparency and information exchange among financial centres.