Clinton, EU Officials to Talk at Summit

European Commission chief Romano Prodi will lead a delegation to Washington today for a transatlantic summit with President Clinton that will zero in on issues ranging from a trade dispute about bananas to NATO’s future. For the Europeans, the real focus might be on gatherings being lined up on the summit’s sidelines with possible officials of the incoming Bush administration. “Our side will organize a first-contact meeting with some people that have been mentioned as potential members of the new administration,” said Willy Helin, a European Union spokesman. Helin said Robert Zoellick, whose name has been mentioned as a potential U.S. trade representative in the Bush administration, will meet Prodi. The semiannual U.S.-EU summit and the sideline meetings will take place at a time when the U.S. and EU are beset by a series of trade and security conflicts. The U.S. imposed $308 million in annual duties on EU luxury exports because of disputes about trade in beef and bananas, while the Europeans are threatening to slap $4 billion in sanctions on the U.S. over a tax break that benefits American exporters. The U.S. and Europeans also will discuss American concerns about European plans to finance Airbus Industrie’s new super-jumbo passenger aircraft, the A3XX.