EU-US summit to call for 'urgent' climate action

WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (Reuters) The European Union and United States will agree at a summit today that climate change is a central challenge that requires ''urgent, sustained global action,'' according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her first trip to Washington since assuming the presidency of the EU, is seeking to convince the Bush administration take concrete steps to curb the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

Merkel hopes the joint statement will lay the groundwork for a broader deal on combating global warming at a June G8 summit she will host in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm.

''I think on climate and energy efficiency, we've taken a step forward,'' she told reporters in Washington before her meeting with US President George W. Bush. ''We want to use this as a foundation for a broader agreement at the summit between the G8 countries, and perhaps also India and China.

The statement on energy security, efficiency and climate change will be presented alongside a broader ''Transatlantic Economic Partnership'' designed to cut costly non-tariff barriers to trade between the EU and United States.

Under that agreement, the partners will agree to harmonize regulatory standards and cooperate in areas like intellectual property, trade security, investment and financial markets.

A council led by EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen and White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard will be set up to monitor progress in aligning regulations and present annual reports to EU and US leaders.

In addition to the fixed agenda, Merkel and Bush will hold talks on an array of international issues from Iran's nuclear program to Middle East peace.

RUSSIA TENSIONS Russian relations have also been thrust to the forefront after a hawkish speech by President Vladimir Putin last week in which he denounced U.S. plans to put a missile shield in central Europe and froze Moscow's commitments under a key arms treaty.

Washington says the shield would counter threats from ''rogue states'' like Iran and North Korea, but Moscow sees it as a threat and encroachment on its former sphere of influence.

''I will reiterate the need to talk with Russia about this and the NATO-Russia council is a good forum,'' Merkel said, denying that it would be the focus of her talks with Bush.

German officials have painted the joint declaration on climate change as a rhetorical leap forward for the Bush administration, but the statement does not contain any concrete pledges to take action.

The draft says the EU and US are committed to stabilizing greenhouse gases and acknowledges work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, which released a report this month that said rising temperatures were changing the globe and could lead to more hunger, water shortages and extinctions.

The draft urges the development and commercialization of advanced technologies to ''slow, stabilize and significantly cut'' global emissions and promises a joint effort to deliver results at Heiligendamm and work constructively in the run-up to a key UN meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia in December.

On her fourth visit to Washington, Merkel has developed a close relationship with Bush, repairing ties which became badly strained when her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder clashed with the US president over the Iraq war.

But with less than six weeks to go until Heiligendamm, she faces a daunting task in persuading Bush to agree to broader, binding international steps to fight climate change.

German officials have also expressed concern the escalating Cold War-type showdown between Washington and Moscow over the missile shield and another looming battle over Kosovo independence could overshadow the June 6-8 summit.

Reuters JS DB2234