European Union leaders, including Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, met near London today for a summit on coping with globalisation.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU would make a new agricultural offer soon in World Trade Organisation talks aimed at clinching a global trade liberalisation deal by the end of this year.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants the one-day summit at the historic palace Hampton Court to forge a consensus on reforms the 25-nation bloc must make to deal with the challenges of globalisation, including freer trade.
He is seeking agreement on modernising the EU's spending priorities - away from farm subsidies and towards investment in research, higher education and innovation - which he hopes will pave the way for a deal on a long-term EU budget by year-end.
France, the EU's biggest agricultural producer, has accused EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson of exceeding his mandate and warned him against any further offer to lower tariffs that shield European farmers from cheaper international competition.
However, supporters of free trade vowed to fight protectionism.
"Europe should stick to an open economy, to competition and we should refuse protectionism. It will not save one single job in the long run to protect non-competitive industries," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters.
Mr Blair wants the EU leaders to agree on how to adapt their social systems and identify priorities to equip the bloc to cope with the emergence of new economic powerhouses China and India.
Discussions will centre on a "strategic vision" for the 25-nation bloc rather than on details of the 2007-2013 budget, as London is keen to avoid a repeat of a bitter clash in June.
"The summit in June was a political disaster and after that we have to create a better atmosphere," Mr Rasmussen said.
Mr Blair told the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday he wanted to make a start "in putting Europe back together again, on the right track and moving forward".
He called for a "more rational way" of spending EU cash.
Critics say the refusal to address specifics makes for a vacuous agenda, aggravated by the fact that outgoing German and Polish leaders will be present, rather than their conservative successors-in-waiting.
Mr Barroso told BBC radio that, after the French and Dutch rejection of the EU's draft constitution and the budget fracas, Europeans expected their leaders to focus on "concrete projects from energy to research to universities to security".