US: A renewed war of words over genetically-modified (GM) food has cast a shadow over today's EU-US summit in Washington, which is aimed at repairing the damage done to the trans-atlantic relationship as a result of the war in Iraq, writes Conor O'Clery North America Editor.
The European Commission yesterday rejected a claim by President George Bush on Monday that it was "acting on unfounded, unscientific fears" in blocking the importation of new biotech crops and that this was contributing to famine in Africa.
"The suggestions made by the United States are simply not true," Commission spokesman Mr Gerassimos Thomas said. "It is false [to say\] that we are anti-biotechnology or anti-developing countries." He added that the 15-nation EU contributed seven times more development aid than the United States.
Mr Bush told a biotechnology conference in Washington that the EU's "artificial obstacles" meant that many African countries avoided investing in biotechnology so as not to be shut out of European markets.
"For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition to biotechnology," he said.
The EU has tight restrictions on the importation of GM food and some African countries have rejected US food aid containing GM grain since use of the seed could threaten agricultural exports to Europe.
Last week, negotiations between the US and the EU over biotech foods broke down in acrimony, and the US, along with Canada and Argentina, is asking the World Trade Organisation to force Europe to accept biotech foods.
While EU countries have bowed to public opinion on biotech foods, the issue also draws protests in the US, where GM foods are widely sold to consumers.
On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators confronted riot police outside the venue for a conference on GM agriculture in Sacramento, California, with slogans which read "We Don't Want to Eat Their Corporate Creations".
The two largest economies also have to contend with other sharp differences over the International Criminal Court (ICC) - which a Bush administration official acknowledged was a "tough issue" - US steel tariffs and EU agriculture subsidies.
The United States has refused to be a party to the International Criminal Court and EU leaders have refused to drop their opposition to US demands for an agreement to prevent US soldiers being brought before the court.
The US believed that countries joining the EU ought to be allowed to give the US the exemptions required under the treaty setting up the ICC, the administration official said.
A co-operation agreement will be signed today at the one-day summit in the White House, the third between the two sides since President Bush took office.
Relations were "considerably better than they appear", said the US official, although it had been "a very interesting six months - to put it mildly", he added, referring to the fall-out over Iraq. Washington reacted with fury to French-led opposition to the war and the Pentagon boycotted this month's Paris air show.
The EU team to meet Mr Bush includes the President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, the EU Foreign Policy Co-ordinator, Mr Javier Solano, and the EU Trade Commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy.
The United States has welcomed the determination shown by EU leaders at their summit in Thessaloniki at the weekend to improve co-operation with the US in the fight against terrorism.
While stressing that they should work on an equal footing, European leaders declared in Thessaloniki that they were "determined to develop trans-atlantic dialogue at all levels between the institutions of the societies of the two sides".
An extradition agreement may be signed at the summit, but it will only be acceptable to EU countries on the condition that their citizens would not be subject to the death penalty.