EU rift with Bush over famine claims on eve of summit

The European Union's attempt to make peace with the Bush administration at a summit today has been thrown off course by another transatlantic spat over genetically modified food. On the eve of the set-piece EU-US meeting in Washington, officials in Brussels hit back at American claims that Europe's opposition to GM food causes starvation in the Third World.

President George Bush and his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will host today's gathering, to be attended by Costas Simitis, Prime Minister of Greece, which holds the EU presidency, Romano Prodi, the European Commission president, and Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for foreign policy.

A private report produced for EU leaders says much hinges on the meeting and warns that a "growing perception of a deepening rift on both sides of the Atlantic dominates". The document says the meeting should "reassert the fundamental importance" of transatlantic ties, but also hints at frustration at the way Washington seems impervious to outside influence, while expecting help with the aftermath of US-led conflicts. "Sight should not be lost of the necessary link between burden sharing and power sharing," it says.

Yesterday, EU officials rejected a statement by President Bush in which he said: "For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition to biotechnology." The US is threatening the EU with action at the World Trade Organisation over its de facto moratorium on the licensing of GM food, pending legislation to protect consumers.

A spokesman for the Commission said: "It is false we are anti-biotechnology or anti-developing countries. These things said by the United States are simply not true." The EU, he added, spent seven times as much on development in Africa as the United States.

The exchange could distract from initiatives designed to improve transatlantic co-operation, including the signature of an agreement on extradition and legal assistance, measures aimed to help the US combat terrorism.

The agreement was finalised after lengthy negotiation to satisfy European demands that terrorist suspects sent to the US would not face the death penalty. The briefing note, compiled by the EU's Greek presidency and the European Commission, says the signing of a deal will "provide the visibility that EU-US co-operation in such a crucial area merits". Today's meeting follows a significant shift in the EU's position on global threats, designed to bring it closer to the thinking of the Bush administration.

At last week's Porto Carras summit, European leaders endorsed a far-reaching document drafted by Mr Solana, which highlighted the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction and argued that one of the most worrying scenarios was that they would fall into the hands of terrorists.

The document called for "effective multilateralism" but, although the EU agreed to the use of force as a last resort on rogue states, it insisted that it must be sanctioned by the United Nations.