Washington, 09/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - At a speech to the Foreign Policy Association in Washington on 7 May, Javier Solana and Colin Powell highlighted areas of common concern to the US and the EU despite recent tension over the Iraq war. "Colin Powell and I have a pretty good partnership. Not because we agree on everything. We don't. but when we disagree we talk and listen to the other's views… We use the phone a lot, but never the megaphone", said EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana. He said the US and the EU "must commit themselves to a number of vital issues in the coming months and years (see Europe of 6 May, p.5, on the Council of the EU calling on Javier Solana to consider the future of relations with the US). He mentioned the fight against terrorism ("We need even more police cooperation, more intelligence sharing..."); the fight against the spread of weapons of mass destruction ("We must have a shared analysis of threats and shared strategies to counter these threats. This means a serious examination of what has worked and what has not worked in the international regimes on non-proliferation"); consolidating peace and democracy in Iraq; peace in the Middle East and disease and poverty in developing countries. Colin Powell mentioned the same challenges, saying that differences over Iraq were now behind them and that he didn't rush to call every disagreement a crisis. "Europe doesn't want to be considered only a checkbook, and the United States doesn't want to be seen as just a juggernaut. We do not have to work together the same way every time", he said, adding "We can, and do, work together."