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EU 'consensus' to tackle crisis | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
EU leaders meeting at an emergency summit in Brussels say they are determined to avoid protectionist moves in response to the economic crisis. | |
"There was consensus on the need to avoid any unilateral protectionist measures," European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said. | |
He spoke at the end of the summit aimed at heading off a new east-west rift. | |
The meeting followed the French president's pledge to help his nation's car industry if jobs were safeguarded. | |
President Nicolas Sarkozy's move raised fears that national protectionism could scupper hopes of recovery within the EU. The Czech Republic, current holder of the EU presidency, condemned his comments. | |
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "today was the start of a European consensus on all these major issues that are facing the world community", including "no to protectionism". | |
We face the threat of a retreat into protectionism UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown Send us your comments | We face the threat of a retreat into protectionism UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown Send us your comments |
After chairing the talks on Sunday, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said: "We need a Europe without barriers but also a just and fair Europe." | |
He also said US President Barack Obama would visit Prague on 5 April. | |
But there was no announcement of any new EU aid package for the badly-hit economies of Central and Eastern Europe. | |
Hungary's Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, warned earlier against allowing a "new Iron Curtain" to divide the continent. | |
Protectionism... flies in the face of the whole raison d'etre of the EU BBC Europe Editor Mark Mardell Blog: French climbdown? | |
Many of the newer EU members in Central and Eastern Europe have seen their financial institutions and economies battered by the downturn. They are faced with plunging currencies, factory closures and in some cases social unrest. | |
Hungary and Latvia especially are facing serious liquidity problems. They are already receiving billions of euros from an EU emergency fund. | Hungary and Latvia especially are facing serious liquidity problems. They are already receiving billions of euros from an EU emergency fund. |
Hungary called for a 180bn-euro (£160bn) aid package for Central and Eastern Europe - but that was rejected by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. | |
Alluring euro | Alluring euro |
Mr Gyurcsany suggested a relaxation of the rules for adopting the euro. But the chairman of the 16-nation eurozone group, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, said: "I don't think we can change the accession criteria to the euro overnight." | Mr Gyurcsany suggested a relaxation of the rules for adopting the euro. But the chairman of the 16-nation eurozone group, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, said: "I don't think we can change the accession criteria to the euro overnight." |
The summit, called by the Czech Republic, came just a week after the same EU leaders met to discuss reforming the region's financial system. | |
President Sarkozy denied accusations of protectionism levied at his 3bn-euro bail-out plan, which aims to keep French carmakers manufacturing in France. | |
However, he said that if the US defended its own industries, perhaps Europe should do the same. | However, he said that if the US defended its own industries, perhaps Europe should do the same. |
Czechs urge solidarity | Czechs urge solidarity |
"We do not want any new dividing lines. We do not want a Europe divided along a North-South or an East-West line," Mr Topolanek said ahead of Sunday's summit. | "We do not want any new dividing lines. We do not want a Europe divided along a North-South or an East-West line," Mr Topolanek said ahead of Sunday's summit. |
"Efforts and measures to fight the economic crisis within the EU must respect the principle of solidarity, but they also require that all players show responsibility," Mr Topolanek said. | "Efforts and measures to fight the economic crisis within the EU must respect the principle of solidarity, but they also require that all players show responsibility," Mr Topolanek said. |
Mr Brown, who travels to Washington this week, where he will become the first European leader to meet US President Barack Obama, said the G20 talks next month represented an opportunity to agree "a new deal". | |
"Only by working together will we deliver the EU and international recovery we need." | "Only by working together will we deliver the EU and international recovery we need." |