EU leaders have agreed on an ambitious pan-European economic stimulus package at the EU Council summit in Brussels.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: 'We have agreed an ambitious stimulus package.'
'We will continue to reject the do-nothing approach. We will not stand by and let the recession take its course.
'What Europe has proved unanimously today is that it is ready to act in a united and co-ordinated way to deal with the global downturn.'
Asked about criticism of Britain's fiscal stimulus plans by German finance minister Peer Steinbruck and an aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Brown insisted: 'Today's statement is the answer to all the talk of the past few weeks.
'Europe is fully united. This is a fiscal stimulus of 1.5% of our national incomes, around €200bn.
'It is in line with the position in the US. I'm not going to get into the domestic politics of any individual country, (but) whatever comments there have been this is the answer.'
Elsewhere, the Euro is worth almost 90p Sterling this morning, after the British currency hit a record low for a fifth day in a row.
Sterling has been tumbling against the Euro and Dollar in recent months as the UK stands on the brink of recession.
Meanwhile, European shares slumped this morning after rescue talks for the struggling US car industry collapsed and British bank HBOS reported a big rise in bad debts in the last two months.
The ISEQ lost 3.5%, while London's FTSE was down 3%. Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei index slumped by 5.5%.
