US:John Bruton, European Commission ambassador to the US, has urged EU leaders to engage with the US Congress on climate change in order to circumvent opposition from President Bush
Speaking ahead of an EU-US summit on Monday, he said there was little chance of progress towards a joint EU-US plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions at the meeting. "At the moment they [ the US] seem to have set their face against it," said Mr Bruton, referring to European plans to promote a new global cap and trade system for CO2 emissions.
He said the US approach was to push new technologies such as biofuels rather than agreeing on unilateral cuts in CO2 emissions in a new post-Kyoto Protocol deal.
The EU has been pushing the US administration to sign up to a substantive joint declaration on global warming ahead of June's G8 summit and a critical UN conference in December in Bali. But EU diplomats now accept there will be no dramatic breakthroughs or a change of heart from President Bush on Monday.
"It is the case that the EU-US summit is not the place to resolve these issues . . . but I think it is important that the US is aware that the EU has a very strong line on this," said Mr Bruton, who urged EU leaders to take the debate now to the US Congress.
"I think the Congress has a very important role to play. It is already working on measures at the moment, including cap and trade. I think it is important the EU also looks to Congress. It can do it now rather than wait for 2008," he said.
Despite the impasse over climate change, Mr Bruton said relations between the EU and the US were "pretty good" at the moment. The US is taking a multilateral approach to global disputes such as Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Kosovo. And the two blocs would agree a package of economic measures designed to foster an integrated transatlantic market, he added.
"We will see certain 'lighthouse' projects identified for special attention for co-operation," said Mr Bruton, who listed health-related industries, radio frequency identification technology and nanotechnology as areas earmarked for co-operation.
The EU and US will also agree to set up a new transatlantic economic council to oversee work on common regulatory standards between the EU and US.
The council will offer political support to regulators in the US and EU to help them work together.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has been pushing hard to get a new transatlantic partnership agreed to cover intellectual property rights, energy policy and financial market regulation.
It is expected the EU and US will agree to set a 2009 target for mutual recognition of each bloc's financial accounting rules. The "open skies" agreement to liberalise transatlantic air travel will also be formally signed at the EU-US summit, which will be attended by President Bush, commission president José Manuel Barroso and Ms Merkel.
Experts say agreeing on common standards for goods such as cars, pharmaceuticals and new technology and agreeing harmonised rules for financial services between the two blocs could boost gross domestic product in the two blocs by up to 3.5 per cent.
However, some European diplomats remain cautious about the prospects of success for the German push toward regulatory convergence, noting that a Declaration on Enhancing Transatlantic Economic Integration and Growth in 2005 had generated few results or momentum so far.