Ministers aim to avoid US row on international court

Europe's foreign ministers will try to calm growing transatlantic tension over American opposition to the new International Criminal Court (ICC) during two days of talks this weekend.

Meeting in the Danish castle at Elsinore made famous by Shakespeare's Hamlet, ministers will try to pull off the difficult trick of avoiding a public row with America and internal division.

The American hostility towards the ICC has raised the prospect of a damaging transatlantic row, as Washington tries to negotiate bilateral deals with countries and thereby exempt American personnel from being handed over to the new international court.

The United States, the world's sole superpower, fears its soldiers overseas could be vulnerable to politically motivated charges at the tribunal, which is to try individuals for atrocities, war crimes and systematic human rights abuses.

But critics say Washington is determined to neuter the fledgling international court. Some EU diplomats fear that London and Rome might seek to sign bilateral deals with Washington. Nations hoping to join Nato this year are particularly vulnerable to American pressure; Romania has already struck a deal.

At Elsinore, British officials will try to avert confrontation with America, if necessary by offering concessions.

Several EU member states, including Britain, have already distanced themselves from a legal opinion given to the European Commission, which suggests that signatories to the ICC would violate the treaty if they signed agreements with America. One well-placed source accused the Commission and the Pentagon of being "confrontational".

The Danish EU presidency says it wants to try to meet American concerns without undermining the new court's integrity. One diplomat argued: "The EU agrees that the ICC must work efficiently and we intend to defend it, but we also want to avoid damaging transatlantic relations."

In fact, the Commission has a limited role because EU member states will decide the issue. Legal experts from national capitals will meet in Brussels on Wednesday before ministers take the final decision.

This weekend's meetings will also include informal talks on the Middle East and Iraq. The EU will press for a Middle East initiative, and the Danish presidency of the EU will present a paper that proposes a "road map" aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state within three years.

Per Stig Moeller, the Danish Foreign Minister, and host of the two-day talks, told a news conference in Copenhagen yesterday: "No decisions are to be made because this is an informal meeting."

On Iraq, Britain will try to play the role of conciliator between continental Europe and America, and is expected to press the case for keeping options open and maintaining a dialogue with Washington. London argues that to alienate the Bush administration through ill-advised rhetoric would be counter-productive.

* The European Commission presided over by Romano Prodi may step down three months early to allow a new team, including members of up to 10 countries expected to join the EU, to start work as soon as possible. The move would mean Mr Prodi's 20-strong "college" of commissioners quitting before the scheduled date of 1 January 2005.