U.S. officials say the European Union won’t be able to stop Boeing Co.’s acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp., and the EU’s threat to disapprove the transaction on antitrust grounds will win few concessions from either Boeing or the Clinton administration.

An EU antitrust panel recommended on Friday that the takeover be rejected by the European Commission.

Clinton administration officials say the EU is using the Boeing case to try to force the U.S. to renegotiate a 1992 treaty that limits the amount of financial aid governments can give commercial aircraft makers. However, the U.S. will reject any effort to link the takeover to the subsidy pact.