EU: Ready to Resume U.S. Aircraft Talks BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union blamed the United States on Saturday for the collapse of talks over subsidies for aircraft rivals Boeing and Airbus, but said it was willing to resume the negotiations. Washington accused the EU on Friday of blocking the talks and threatened to take the matter back to the World Trade Organization, where the EU and the United States had had competing cases against each other. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement the U.S. move was "premature and unnecessary," as further talks could have brought a compromise. "I regret this unilateral action in breaking off the negotiations," Mandelson said. "I fully understand the difficulties but I think we could have overcome them with further efforts. I am happy to return to the negotiating table, and perhaps the new U.S. trade representative will look at that," he added. A pair of competing cases over Airbus and Boeing at the WTO could put a huge strain on the WTO and open the door for massive trade sanctions on both sides. It would also stress U.S.-EU trade ties at a time when the two need to cooperate to advance troubled world trade talks. The United States and the 25-nation EU agreed in January to suspend a pair of competing WTO cases over Boeing and Airbus that threatened to worsen trade ties and to try instead for a deal to eliminate subsidies by April 11. Washington wants Europe to stop providing "launch aid" loans to help Airbus develop new aircraft, such as its A380 superjumbo jet. Airbus in recent years has surpassed Boeing as the biggest commercial aircraft manufacturer. "Although on Jan. 11 the EU agreed to a structure for eliminating large civil aircraft subsidies, over the past two months they've been backtracking and seeking to change the terms of that agreement," Richard Mills, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said late on Friday. European governments have provided $15 billion in loans since 1967 to help Airbus launch new aircraft, including $3.2 billion for the A380. Boeing has recently launched a new regional jet, the 787, and wants to bar Airbus from receiving government loans to develop a competing plane, the A350. Brussels argues Boeing benefits from its own form of launch aid, including federal government contracts, Washington state tax breaks and Japanese government support for the production of wing and fuselage subassemblies in that country. Quelle "EU: Ready to Resume U.S. Aircraft Talks" : reuters.com Main page for "EU: Ready to Resume U.S. Aircraft Talks"