Brussels, 17/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The United States has called upon the European Union for financial compensation for the harmful effects of changes to customs tariffs in the ten countries which joined on 1 May. Washington formulated its request in a document sent to the World Trade Organisation on 23 April. According to the agency EFE, quoting a spokesperson to the European Commission in Washington, the EU is currently studying the document to "determine whether this a basis for negotiations". The Commission, like the authorities responsible for American external trade, has for now refused to published the sum total of possible compensation, the type of compensation planned, and the list of products Washington feels have been affected by enlargement. Agriculture is a choice candidate, the spokesperson did however acknowledge. The procedure is legitimate in terms of international trade rules, which provides the possibilities for compensation when a country enters a customs union, and this causes an increase in its trade barriers for third countries. In 1995, when Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU, the US asked the Union to reduce its customs duties on semi-conductors and various agricultural and chemical products to balance out the changes in customs tariffs adopted by these countries to come into line with Union norms.