runners on U.N. reform," he said in the speech, which made no reference to the controversy around Bush's choice of John Bolton, a fierce critic of the United Nations, as Washington's ambassador to the organisation. Barroso said the decision by the second Bush administration earlier this year to support European talks with Iran to win assurances over its nuclear programme was a sign that it was willing to cooperate with others on solving world problems. But he urged Washington to do more to ensure it fulfilled international pledges to boost foreign aid, noting the EU was already more than halfway towards a target of spending 0.7 percent of gross national income on aid by 2015. "I truly hope the U.S. will join us in this effort, because few can doubt that this would have a dramatic impact on the ground," he said. According to statistics by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) think-tank, the United States spent 0.16 percent of its national income on overseas development assistance last year. --SP 2148 Local Time 1848 GMT
