Europe's four biggest economies have agreed to work together to address the current global financial turmoil but said they would not form a joint bail-out fund.
The leaders of Germany, Britain, Italy and France - which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency - made the announcement at the end of an emergency mini-summit in Paris. France had floated the idea of a 300-billion-euro European fund to rescue troubled banks, however German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU states must take responsibility at a national level for the banking crisis. She said she did not want German taxpayers contributing to a common fund. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said EU nations were trying to work together as much as possible. The summit comes ahead of the Group of Eight meeting of finance ministers in Washington next week.
(Deutsche Welle)
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