Europe needs a continent-wide fiscal stimulus plan, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said today adding that 'exceptional moments need exceptional measures.'
He was speaking following talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, after both men attended a G20 summit in Washington which agreed an action plan to boost flagging global growth.
'We certainly need a fiscal stimulus plan for Europe but it cannot be a one-size-fits-all plan,' he said at a press conference with Brown after talks in Downing Street.
'But we're living in exceptional moments and in exceptional moments we need exceptional measures. Those exceptional measures should be of course timely, targeted and temporary but we need them,' he said.
Barroso added that the measures should be 'coordinated' to prevent spill-over from one country to another. He added that a pioneering EU action plan would be presented on the 26th of this month.
The two men were discussing how in Europe measures agreed at the G20 summit would be taken forward, Brown said.
'We have a long way to go but it's clear we're heading in the right direction,' Barroso added, hailing the G20 as 'a very important meeting'.
World leaders at the G20 agreed on an action plan to tackle the world economic crisis, pledging to keep working on reforms ahead of another meeting in April, probably in London.
Six areas will be specifically targeted including regulating those parts of the financial markets that have exacerbated the crisis, boosting transparency and reforming 'fat cat' compensation practices.
Brown reiterated his support for a global fiscal stimulus at the press conference amid speculation his government is set to announce tax cuts in next Monday's Pre-Budget Report.
'Britain like many other countries in Europe is prepared to make its contribution for a temporary and affordable fiscal stimulus', he said. 'It is now clear that the need for an urgent fiscal stimulus within a medium-term framework of fiscal sustainability is overwhelmingly accepted across the world.'
He added that the pair had instructed negotiators to conclude a deal in world trade talks by the end of the year and again spoke out against protectionism.
