IF media reports of large-scale US spying on the European Union were confirmed, it would be unacceptable Cold War-style behaviour between partners who require trust to forge a new trade area, Germany said.

"If it is confirmed diplomatic representations of the EU and individual European countries have been spied upon, we will clearly say bugging friends is unaccept-able," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert. "We are no longer in the Cold War."

Berlin felt surprised and "alienated" by the reports and had conveyed this to the White House.

Ms Merkel would speak to US President Barack Obama directly about the issue soon, he confirmed.

Fury among US's allies over former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden's revelations of secret surveillance programmes were exacerbated at the weekend by a German magazine report the NSA had tapped communications at EU offices in Washington, Brussels and at the United Nations.

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA taps half-a-billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month, much more than any other European country.

EU politicians say talks between Brussels and Washington about creating the world's biggest free-trade area could even be at risk.

Germany still wants such a deal, Mr Seibert said, but added "mutual trust is necessary in order to come to an agreement".