Brussels and Washington have agreed to start talks on ending subsidies for aircraft makers rather than take their dispute over rivals Airbus and Boeing to litigation, the European Commission said today.
"With this agreement the EU and US have confirmed their willingness to resolve the dispute which has arisen between them . . . and to devote time and resources to doing so by negotiation rather than pursuing the dispute through WTO panels," European Trade Commissioner Mr Peter Mandelson said in a statement.
The United States last year unilaterally denounced a 1992 agreement with Brussels limiting subsidies to civil aircraft makers and filed a complaint against the EU with the World Trade Organization over state aid to Airbus.
That prompted an EU complaint over US support for Boeing.