British Chancellor Gordon Brown has warned that weak growth in the EU is endangering the world economy.
Writing in London's Financial Times, Brown said the EU's growth weakness lay at the root of imbalances in the global economy.
Brown said the danger to the recovery demanded a new 'sense of urgency' among policymakers, adding that Europe had a 'special responsibility' to take the steps needed to keep growth on track.
In an opening salvo in what promises to be a fierce debate over Britain's EU rebate, he called a European Commission proposal for a 30% increase in spending 'unacceptable'. The budget debate, he said, would become a test of whether Europe was 'genuinely resisting grandiose but unrealistic ambitions'.
Brown called for a 'new and more urgent timetable' to complete single market reforms, make competition policy more independent, cut state aids and reduce barriers to trade.
