France hosts mini EU summit on financial crisis - World News

PARIS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from France, Germany, Britain and Italy met here on Saturday to coordinate response of European Union (EU) member states to the escalating financial crisis.

The French government said the mini EU summit aimed to prepare European members of the Group of Industrialized Nations for a larger meeting on the crisis although no date has been set for such a meeting.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wanted EU leaders to pledge that they will do their utmost to save troubled banks hit by the financial crisis, which originated in the United States and was spreading in Europe.

"I want the message to go out of this meeting today that no sound, sovereign bank should be allowed to fail for lack of liquidity," Brown said as he arrived for the meeting.

"The signal will be very clear that every country represented here today will want to do whatever is necessary to secure the stability of the system and to ensure the safety of their hardworking families and businesses in each of our countries," he added.

The summit was also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker.

It was called by French President Nicolas Sarkozy after several European banks fell prey to the financial crisis in the past week, prompting EU governments to infuse billions of euros to keep them afloat.