BRUSSELS, April 22 (Reuter) - The European Union failed on Monday to make any progress towards banning the use of drift nets for catching tuna, swordfish and salmon, EU officials said. Only Spain and Greece support a long-standing proposal by the EU's executive European Commission to ban drift nets in the northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic by the end of 1997. "The proposal is totally blocked," said one official after a meeting of EU fisheries ministers. EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino said she had no plans to present a fresh proposal. Italy pledged that its fishermen in the Mediterranean will obey current rules forbidding the use of drift nets longer than 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles). The United States had warned that it could impose trade sanctions this summer after the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled recently that Italy was breaking international rules. Some officials said Italian fishermen were using nets of up to 20 km to catch swordfish. The European Commission said that a fisherie

s inspection vessel, first chartered in 1995, will extend its patrols to the Mediterranean this year. Environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, have campaigned vigourously to abolish "curtains of death drift nets" which they say kill thousands of dolphins and other marine mammals annually.