Brussels, 15/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson's visit to Washington last week failed to result in substantial progress in talks on the removal of state aid to the civil aeronautics sector. One month after the resumption of negotiations (as part of a three-month “truce” to expire mid-April, during which the EU and the US have pledged not to start any dispute proceedings at the WTO or grant any new aid to their aeroplane builders: EUROPE of 12 January, p.8), differences of opinion persist on the definition of state aid, said Mr Mandelson. This is a crucial issue in that the objective is to end subsidies to the builders of civil aircraft. “We are still having problems with the definition of aid. Europe and the United States support their major civil aircraft builders, but each in a different way”, he told the press in Washington. Identifying different forms of aid is no mean feat but not impossible either, said Mr Mandelson, who also regretted the fact that the US and the EU must spend so much of their time on the Airbus/Boeing affair “rather than concentrate on international trade or the fight against poverty”. The Commission's experts are in permanent contact with the American authorities and consultations continue daily with a view to resolving these highly technical problems, explained Mr Mandelson's spokesperson on Monday. The fact that talks in Washington have had no concrete results as yet is neither surprising nor alarming, “because we are still not even halfway through our negotiating time” of three months, she said.