GENEVA, Oct 7: The World Trade Organization said on Friday it would name a panel later this month to referee the EU-US battle over billions of dollars in public aid for aircraft giants Boeing and Airbus.

The panel members’ names will be released on October 17, said WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell.

The WTO oversees the rules of global commerce set by the 148 trading nations that make up its membership and tries to settle tussles among them.

In July, the organization agreed to set up a panel to rule on the US case over aid to Airbus and a separate European Union complaint over support for Boeing.

However, the panel was not appointed because neither Washington nor Brussels could agree on its membership.

On Friday, the parties asked WTO chief Pascal Lamy to resolve the deadlock himself by picking the three independent trade experts who would rule on the case, Rockwell said.

Lamy declined, however, because he was too close to the case.

The Frenchman, who took over as WTO director general in September, previously served as EU trade chief until November 2004 and crossed swords with Washington several times.

Lamy asked his deputy, Alejandro Jara of Chile, to choose. Under WTO rules, he has 10 days to make his decision.

The US has challenged aid for Airbus from the governments of four European countries — Britain, France, Germany and Spain.

The EU’s own complaint centres on US state and local subsidies or indirect assistance for Boeing.

Washington and Brussels turned to the WTO after failing in negotiations to find common ground over several billion dollars of public aid and despite earlier warnings from both sides that a full-blown legal clash at the WTO could be “disastrous”.

—AFP