MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brown to meet Obama with EU (patched) unity message

PM Brown and Pte. Obama (Photo file)

Prime Minister Gordon Brown flies to Washington Monday declaring European unity over the financial crisis despite a growing rift between major EU economies and member states from central and Eastern Europe.

An emergency summit in Brussels over the weekend produced declarations of solidarity but failed to paper over the cracks about protectionism and bail-outs for the worst-hit countries. The Prime Minister is the first EU leader to hold formal talks with President Barack Obama, and wants to present a united EU front ahead of a G20 summit in London on 2 April. But after Sunday's summit – part of preparations for the G20 – tensions were still running high over the ability of the rich western EU countries to pour money into their ailing economies while their poorer EU partners cannot. Hungary was rebuffed when its prime minister called for a ?150 billion bail-out package for central and Eastern European member states, claiming the richer western partners were simply taking care of themselves. And the protectionist tensions continued over French efforts to encourage French car plants in the Czech Republic to return home. Nevertheless, a summit declaration insisted on EU solidarity over the single market as the "engine for recovery". "The whole world must agree, as Europe has done today, on the need to reject protectionism, which is the road to ruin", said PM Brown. "People neither want protectionism nor do they want to be in a situation where we don't take the interest rate and the fiscal action that is necessary" "I found complete support for the measures that I am talking about that are central to the success of the G20 (summit in London next month)" said PM Brown. "Today was the start of a European consensus on all these major issues that are facing the world community: yes to better regulation; yes to action on the shadow banking system and hedge funds; no to protectionism; yes to fiscal and monetary stimulus; no to maintaining the old status quo on the role of our financial institutions." He said he would take a "clear message" to Barack Obama from all EU leaders, thfirst of them to hold face-to-face talks with the new US President. "Bold global action, a global grand bargain, is not now just necessary but it is vitally urgent to deal with the challenges of the world economy," he said. "When, in exactly one month's time, world leaders gather in London to take the big decisions necessary to secure our economic future we must, and we will, succeed."