Bush heads for a cool reception from EU leaders

George Bush, the US President, will embark on a five-nation European tour next week that will test the resilience of the transatlantic relationship as he attempts to negotiate an agenda littered with disputes.

At odds over climate change and a raft of trade disputes, and with differences evident on US plans for a missile shield, the Balkans and Europe's new defence ambitions, Mr Bush is guaranteed a cool reception when he meets European Union leaders at a summit on Thursday.

Mr Bush arrives in Spain on Tuesday and will meet Nato heads of government in Brussels the following day before heading to Gothenburg in Sweden for a summit with EU leaders. The summit will be followed by a visit to Poland and then to Slovenia, where he will have his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President.

Jacques Chirac, the French President, set a confrontational tone yesterday with his most impassioned attack so far on American plans for a missile defence system. In a speech on French defence policy in Paris, he said the US plans would open up the "Pandora's box" of militarisation of outer space. He said: "This would result in a new arms race whose outcome would be disastrous for the world."

Mr Chirac said that, in future, the EU would be able to decide and implement action to manage crises in Europe "completely autonomously, whether or not it uses Nato assets and capabilities". Britain and the US have insisted that independent actions by the EU would only occur when Nato has decided not to get involved. This week, Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said that Nato would have the right of "first refusal" for any operation.

Sweden ­ which holds the rotating presidency of the EU ­ has made the environment one of its three priorities and has been in the vanguard of protest against Mr Bush's rejection of the Kyoto protocol on climate change.

Tensions over trade remain despite resolution of a long-running dispute over Europe's banana import quotas. Europe may seek to take punitive action against the US over multimillion dollar tax concessions for US exporters known as Foreign Sales Corporations.