EU Sharpens Rhetoric Over Block on Iraq Contracts
Thu December 11, 2003 05:23 AM ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive stepped up a war of words on Thursday over Washington's move to bar Iraq war opponents from lucrative reconstruction contracts, accusing the United States of reopening transatlantic divisions.

"The U.S. decision is gratuitous and extremely unhelpful," EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said in a statement. "We should be seeking to bring people together, not divide them."

The European Commission, which conducts the bloc's common trade policy, has said it will investigate whether the U.S. bar on projects worth $18.6 billion violates World Trade Organization rules.

"At the very moment when there is a general recognition that the whole international community should work together for the reconstruction of Iraq and for a stable and prosperous democratic society there, returning to old arguments and divisions doesn't seem particularly constructive," Patten said.

Germany, Russia and France -- which opposed the U.S. decision to bypass the United Nations and launch war on Iraq -- have reacted angrily.

The decision was announced on Tuesday by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who said it was necessary to limit competition for the prime Iraq contracts "for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States."

The White House has since defended its decision as an inducement for countries willing to commit troops and provide other support in post-conflict Iraq.

Patten said the move vindicated the 15-nation EU's insistence on a multilateral trust fund under the control of the United Nations and the World Bank -- rather than the U.S. occupying power -- to channel its aid to Iraq.