EU leaders: 100 days to save the world

The EU agreed on Friday a general line to take at a Washington summit of world leaders next week, which includes initiating a period of 100 days to draw up proposals on reforming the international financial system.

One hundred days after 15 November, the date of the G20 summit in the US, a new meeting is to be held to look at how much progress has been made on the goals.

In a statement that seemed to lay the blame for the financial crisis at America’s door, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said, “Europe will not just accept a few vague principles.

“This is a world crisis but we know perfectly well where it started. We will not allow nothing to be done. Europe will not accept an explanation that says nothing has happened.”

EU heads also proposed an expanded role for the International Monetary Fund, agreeing to give the organisation extra responsibility and resources to deal with future crises.

They agreed to improve regulation of and support for of the banking sector, including more monitoring of international financial groups by “colleges” of supervisors, and the establishment of an early warning system to identify increased risk in the valuation of economic assets.

The commission is to release a more comprehensive plan for economic recovery - under the umbrella of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs - on 26 November.

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