SERIOUS differences between the US and the European Union on trade with Cuba and the US debt to the UN were acknowledged during talks here yesterday.
But after leading EU foreign ministers met the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, for 90 minutes the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said they had found "a good deal of common ground" on key international issues.
The dispute between the EU and the US over trade with Cuba and Libya as well as the large US debt to the United Nations were only touched upon, according to Mr Spring. "We know each other's positions - we didn't play ping pong about them."
Instead, the talks concentrated on the Middle East peace process and the situation in former Yugoslavia. Mr Spring, who is holding over 20 meetings with foreign ministers and heads of state at the UN General Assembly this week, described the encounter with Mr Christopher as "one of the most important of the week".
The European ministers restated their opposition to the US Helm/Burton legislation, under which non US companies including those from the EU - can be sued and penalised in the US courts for trading with Cuba. ,New York Senator Al d'Amato has proposed similar legislation punishing those trading with Libya.
European foreign ministers' have threatened to implement retaliatory measures unless the legislation is changed, prompting fears of an escalating transatlantic trade dispute. However, it is hoped that if President Clinton is reelected in November, the legislation may be modified.
Mr Spring is also believed to shave repeated what he said in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the US and others who owe substantial sums to the UN should pay up immediately to allow the UN to carry on its existing programmes.
European governments would like to see the US exert greater pressure on Israel to get involved in substantive talks with Palestinians and its Arab neighbours about a comprehensive Middle East peace deal. The pace of the peace process has slowed dramatically since the election of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's right wing Likud government earlier this year.
While the EU is the largest contributor to Palestinian reconstruction, the US is the sole international political power broker in the region. Increased American pressure on Israel to make concessions to Palestinians and its Arab neighbours is not expected during the US presidential election campaign, however, because of the power of the Jewish lobby.
Mr Spring said after the meeting that both sides had expressed "strong determination" to get all sides back into real talks.
Mr Spring said both sides are very close in their commitment to continued international involvement in Bosnia after this year. They wanted to see the new power sharing institutions in the country working, greater freedom of movement and the beginning of a return of "ethnically cleansed" refugees to their former homes.
Both the US and EU governments were leaning towards the lilting of sanctions on rump Yugoslavia once the results of the recent Bosnian elections were certified as valid by the Organisation for Security and Co operation in Europe, a move expected within days.
In a meeting last night with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy, Mr Spring urged his government to accelerate the peace process.
Mr Spring also had meetings with the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Turkey, India and a group of Central American states yesterday. He discussed the situation in Cyprus - to which the Irish EU Presidency recently appointed a special representative, a retired ambassador, Mr Kester Heaslip - with the president of Cyprus last night.
This morning he will meet representatives of the non aligned movement, the Gulf Co-operation Council, Burma and Ukraine.