Washington  - The top EU and US trade officials Thursday vowed to fight protectionist trends and maintain robust trade to support global economic recovery.

The commitments were made in a joint statement from newly minted US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. They also pledged to push for an "ambitious" outcome on the stalled Doha world trade talks.

Brussels  - European Union leaders clinched a deal Thursday on the use of 5 billion euros (6.9 billion dollars) in community funds to stimulate the economy, after Germany received assurances that the money would be spent by the end of 2010.

"Some of the details still have to be ironed out, but the 5- billion-euro package has been agreed in principle," a diplomat familiar with the talks told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Brussels - European Union leaders clinched a deal Thursday on spending 5 billion euros (6.8 billion dollars) in community funds, diplomats said.

The agreement was reached after the EU's biggest contributor, Germany, received assurances that the money would only be spent on projects that are capable of being implemented by 2010.

Brussels - Neither Luxembourg nor any other European Union country will feature in a possible "black list" of tax havens to be drawn up at next month's Group of 20 summit in London, diplomats in Brussels said Thursday.

Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of the tiny but wealthy grand duchy, received assurances from fellow EU leaders during a summit in the Belgian capital that his country would not be singled out.

Washington  - A day after his Senate confirmation, newly minted US Trade Representative Ron Kirk wasted little time in pledging close relations with the European Union when he met Thursday with EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton.

Yet the tension between Europe and the US was made clear already on Wednesday, when Ashton, in a private speech, urged the reluctant United States to help kick-start the stalled Doha world trade talks and warned against protectionism.

Brussels  - European Union leaders were close to clinching a deal on the use of 5 billion euros (6.9 billion dollars) in community funds to stimulate the economy after Germany received assurances that the money would be spent by the end of 2010, sources close to the talks said Thursday.

A compromise text by the EU's Czech presidency, seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, states that "due to the urgent need for the stimulus, all legal commitments implementing the budgetary commitments ... should be made before the end of 2010."