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 WASHINGTON (AP) - Unable to agree on major issues like global trade and climate change, the leaders of the United States and the European Union look to highlight smaller signs of improving ties when they meet Monday at the White House.
Expectations are modest for the annual US-European Union summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will get President Bush's support for a proposal to boost trans-Atlantic commerce by eliminating some bureaucratic hurdles. They also will sign an agreement to open up trans-Atlantic air routes.
"People have been searching hard for issues that don't involve Iraq or the war on terror," said Julianne Smith, director of the European program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
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