May 2, 2002
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels and Toby Harnden in Washington

A TOP-LEVEL European Union team arrives in Washington today to confront the Bush administration on Middle East policy, trade and climate control.

Behind the smiles in the Oval Office when President Bush meets Romano Prodi, the European Commission president, and Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish prime minister, there will be discomfort about growing transatlantic divergence over a range of issues.

The Bush administration and most Americans view Palestinian "homicide bombers" - as Mr Bush has termed them - as no different from the September 11 hijackers.

But in Europe there has been dismay at Mr Bush's depiction of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, as a "man of peace" and the president's reluctance to push the Israelis to withdraw from the West Bank.

Mr Prodi said he would be taking a blunt message to Washington, including a demand that the White House did more to rein in Israeli's armed forces and avoided precipitous action against Iraq.

America has made clear it will act against Saddam Hussein in concert with Britain even if France and Germany disagree.

Asked about allied action against Baghdad, Mr Prodi said: "One should bear in mind the consequences that this would have on the global set-up.

"The coalition the United States put together after September 11 has been a great example of political intelligence . . . we should do nothing to harm it."

In America, there has been an increasingly antagonistic attitude to Europe - with the notable exception of Britain - and a new desire to act unilaterally if necessary.

Senior Bush officials state privately that European rhetoric about clamping down on terrorism has not been matched by action.

"Europeans just believe in appeasement," one senator said at a dinner in Washington recently. "Throughout their history they have wanted to meet violence with concessions."

Jean-Marie Le Pen's electoral success in France has prompted a wave of condemnation of European values and there have also been questions in Washington about the relevance of Nato.

"Nato played only a limited, largely political and symbolic role in the war against terrorism," said Senator Richard Lugar, a centrist Republican, recently. "The legacy of Kosovo has reinforced the concern that Nato is not up to the job of fighting a modern war."

Mr Prodi infuriated the Americans on Tuesday by accusing the White House of flouting World Trade Organisation rules by slapping tariffs of up to 30 per cent on steel imports.

The Bush administration insists that it has acted within the rules by resorting to emergency measures, claiming it is the EU that is resorting to outlaw tactics by threatening retaliation on 230 million pounds of American goods next month, before a WTO panel has ruled on the case.

A senior Bush administration official used a summit briefing to play down talk of a schism. There was "very, very deep, ongoing co-operation", he said.

The EU mission will include Chris Patten, the external affairs commissioner, who has increasingly become the scourge of the Bush White House.

In a speech this week he stepped up his campaign, asking whether America was turning into a "rogue superpower", pursuing naked self-interest and "imposing her will unilaterally" on the rest of the world.

"Brute strength is not enough. Brute strength alone, indeed will bring retribution," he said.

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