France and Germany want to hold talks with the
US by the end of the year to settle a row over
spying, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has
said.
It follows claims that her mobile phone and millions of
French calls have been monitored by the US National
Security Agency (NSA).
Mrs Merkel said once seeds of mistrust had been sown,
it made co-operation on intelligence more difficult.
The row over alleged spying continues to overshadow
an EU summit in Brussels.
On Thursday, the UK's Guardian newspaper reported
that it had obtained a confidential memo from the NSA
suggesting it had monitored the phones of 35 world
leaders.
'We want the truth'
Speaking at the end of the first day of the talks on
Thursday, Mrs Merkel said France and Germany wanted
to "create a framework" with the US on surveillance.
She stressed that she wanted to look for a basis to
move forward with Washington, and that she was
looking for deeds, not just apologetic words.
Herman Van Rompuy said other EU countries could
join France and Germany in talks with the US
"It's become clear that for the future, something must
change - and significantly," Mrs Merkel said.
"We will put all efforts into forging a joint
understanding by the end of the year for the co-
operation of the (intelligence) agencies between
Germany and the US, and France and the US, to create
a framework for the co-operation."
At a separate news conference, President of the
European Council Herman Van Rompuy said EU leaders
"took note of the intention of France and Germany to
seek bilateral talks with the US".
Other countries would be "free to join this initiative,"
he said.
Mr Van Rompuy said intelligence-gathering was a vital
weapon against terrorism but it would be prejudiced by
"a lack of trust".
Other leaders expressed anger at the spying allegations.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said it was
"completely unacceptable" to eavesdrop on the leader
of an ally, a view echoed by Italian PM Enrico Letta,
who added: "We want the truth."
Mrs Merkel has demanded a "complete explanation" of
the phone-tapping claims, which emerged in the
German media.
But the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that, despite
the widespread anger about American spying, Mrs
Merkel opposed a suggestion to suspend trade talks with
the United States - and on that point, the UK will be
relieved.
Mrs Merkel had raised her concerns with US President
Barack Obama in a call on Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney later said Mr
Obama had assured Mrs Merkel that her phone was
not being listened to now and would not be in the
future.
However, his statement left open the question of
whether calls had been listened to in the past.
French President Francois Hollande has also expressed
alarm at reports that French phone calls had been
monitored.
Italy's weekly L'Espresso has reported that the US and
UK have been spying on Italian internet and phone
traffic.
The revelations were sourced to US whistleblower
Edward Snowden. It is alleged that the NSA and UK spy
centre GCHQ eavesdropped on three undersea cables
with terminals in Italy.
The Guardian said the NSA memo suggesting it had
monitored the phones of 35 world leaders was also
sourced to Edward Snowden. The numbers were
reportedly supplied by a US government official.
None of the leaders was named, but the memo said
"little reportable intelligence'' was obtained.
In another development, two Western diplomats have
revealed that US officials briefed them on documents
obtained by Edward Snowden that could detail
intelligence co-operation between their countries, the
AP news agency reported.
The Washington Post earlier reported that some
intelligence operations revealed in the documents
involve countries not publicly allied to the US.
The Post said that in some cases, one part of the co-
operating government may know about the
collaboration while others - such as the foreign ministry
- may not.
'Please help us'
The EU leaders are now arriving for Friday's summit
talks.
They are scheduled to discuss the dilemma posed by
migration, which has been brought into sharp focus by
the deaths of hundreds of people who have drowned
trying to cross the Mediterranean in recent weeks.
Maria Nicolini, the mayor of Lampedusa, the Italian
island where many of the bodies have been brought
ashore, was in Brussels on Thursday. She implored EU
leaders to help relieve the misery of the migrants and
the pressure on the Mediterranean islands.
"Please help us and do not disappoint us," she said.
The European Commission has called for EU countries
to offer "additional and urgent contributions" to
prevent further tragedies at sea.
The Commission is pressing for:
Greater resources to survey and patrol sea routes,
through its Frontex operation
Increased co-operation with countries of origin
and transit, especially Libya
The opening of more channels of regular
migration
Moves to spread migrants more evenly across the
EU
However, national governments point out there are
significant obstacles to some of these ambitions -
including the lack of a proficient government in Libya.
National leaders are also aware that there is little
appetite among their voters to open the doors to more
immigrants.
EU sources say the leaders are likely to promise
improved co-operation, but not more money or
resources. They say they first want to see a new
surveillance effort, Eurosur, come into force, to see
what effect that has.
The leaders will also discuss relations with Central and
European countries, ahead of a November summit at
which new agreements will be signed.
The deal with Ukraine is still up in the air, with the EU
protesting at the detention of opposition leader Yulia
Tymoshenko.
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