EU, US On Common Ground Ahead oF Summit

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WASHINGTON: The White House said Saturday it believed there was common ground between the European Union and United States on reform of the world financial system ahead of a summit in Washington next week.

"We believe there is a great deal of common ground among our approaches to address the turmoil in the financial markets," said spokeswoman Dana Perino after EU leaders agreed their approach at a summit on Friday in Brussels.

The summit next weekend in Washington will see leaders from the Group of 20 rich countries and major developing economies meet to discuss a common approach to solving problems in the financial system, which was on the brink of meltdown last month.

As well as highlighting common ground and shared commitments, Perino said the summit would also "reaffirm a commitment to free market principles, including open and competitive economies, expanded trade, and increased investment and capital flows."

The 27-nation bloc, under its current French presidency, has led calls for a broad overhaul of the global financial architecture, prescribing a stiff dose of tougher regulation to fix the system's ills.

EU leaders agreed Friday that a second summit should be called early next year and said the intervening period should be used to draft concrete reform proposals, focusing on tightening oversight worldwide of the financial sector.

In particular, EU leaders want no financial product, nor jurisdiction nor institution to be beyond the reach of oversight.

The United States, the epicenter of the crisis, was thought to be resistant to the idea of concrete changes within 100 days of the summit. It and close allies such as Canada were seen as preferring a stimulus-led response to tighter rules.

"The United States has long been working to advance a financial markets reform agenda with many other countries. Many of those actions are reflected in the statement released ... by European leaders," said Perino.




Via news