French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at odds over EU spending, on Friday held their first face-to-face meeting since the dramatic collapse in June of a summit of European leaders, AP reported. British and French officials said the contentious EU budget question was not on the agenda and that the meeting was focusing instead on an informal summit of European Union leaders Blair will host this month in London. Blair and Chirac last met in July at a Group of Eight summit overshadowed by bombings in London that killed 52 subway and bus passengers. While they had discussions on the sidelines then, Chirac's office said the last time the two leaders had sit-down talks was in Brussels in June, when the EU summit collapsed amid disagreements over the budget. Blair is pushing for reform of EU spending, and has refused to give up the lucrative but hotly contested budget rebate accorded to Britain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Chirac has defended EU farming subsidies that prop up French farmers but which Blair argues would be better spent on education, science and technology to better equip the 25-nation bloc against competition from rising powers like China and India.
