FRANCE: has postponed a long-planned Anglo-French summit to be held in December after a heated argument between President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair over EU farm policy.
The summit, which was scheduled to take place on December 3rd, was suspended, said French foreign ministry spokesman Mr François Rivasseau.
"We need some time on both sides in order to ensure the good preparation for this important meeting. We're mulling it right now with our British friends," he said.
"We'll tell you the date when it's set," he added.
The postponement appeared to signal a deterioration in Anglo-French relations after a recent improvement, during which Paris ended its six-year ban on British beef and the two countries agreed to close down a refugee holding centre in northern France which Britain had said was feeding a wave of illegal immigration.
Reports suggested President Chirac had called off the meeting with Mr Blair after an angry dispute between the two over EU farm policy during a meeting on EU enlargement in Brussels last Friday.
President Chirac was reported to have criticised Mr Blair, when he insistently tried to challenge a Franco-German agreement which would have maintained the contentious EU farm subsidies until 2013.
"You have been very rude and I have never been spoken to like this before," President Chirac was quoted as having said to Mr Blair. - (AFP)