Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began an annual summit with European Union leaders here Tuesday evening, targeting issues of Iraq reconstruction, nuclear program of the Korean Peninsular and WTO's trade liberalization talks.

Koizumi and EU leaders are also set to confirm bilateral cooperation in combating piracy and counterfeiting in Asia and promoting harmonization between Japanese and international accounting standards.

It will be the first bilateral summit since the European Union expanded beyond the former Iron Curtain into a 25-member bloc on May 1.

European Commission President Romano Prodi, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, holder of the rotating EU presidency, and EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will take part in the meeting.

Koizumi and EU leaders are expected to call for broad international support on the work of the interim Iraqi government and rev up multilateral efforts for rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq, according to officials.

On the economic front, the Japanese and EU leaders are expectedto underline their commitment to "inject further momentum" into the Doha Round of WTO negotiations in a bid to reach agreement on a framework for negotiations by the end of July.

The call is aimed at salvaging stalled talks under the current round since the collapse of a ministerial meeting in Mexico last September due to sharp differences over farm trade liberalization.

Moreover, Japan and the European Union are expected to urge countries that have yet to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming to do so soon.

Source: Xinhua