GERMAN Economy Minister Philipp Roesler wants the European Union and the United States to reach a comprehensive transatlantic free trade agreement rather than settle for the limited deal some southern EU nations favor.

Roesler told Der Spiegel magazine yesterday he and the German government want a sweeping free trade deal, while France and southern EU nations, by contrast, want to protect their agriculture industry with regulations and also keep out genetically modified US foodstuffs, the magazine said.

Roesler has backing from a study by the Ifo economic institute think tank that said the advantages of the free trade zone would be larger with a comprehensive deal.

"We're striving to achieve a major breakthrough and we're not just looking for a minimal consensus," Roesler said. "It would be damaging to put limits on the agenda for the talks beforehand and exclude certain sectors."

The Ifo study, carried out for the Economy Ministry, found that per capita gross domestic product would rise by 0.1 percent in the EU and 0.2 percent in the US with the free trade deal if only customs barriers were abolished.

But more could be expected if the governments introduced common technical standards, safety standards and competition rules, Ifo said.

The US and the EU aim to start negotiating a free trade pact by June, but the plan faces many hurdles.