EU, UK, French leaders to meet business chiefs

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso will meet European business leaders on Monday to discuss the economy, Mr Brown's office said yesterday.

Mr Brown, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Barroso will meet business leaders from across Europe in London "to discuss the global economy," a spokesman for Mr Brown said. He gave no further details about the content of the talks or the identity of the business leaders.

The meeting comes just before a European Union summit in Brussels on December 11 and 12 when leaders will study European Commission proposals to give the sagging European economy a sharp, temporary boost with a €200 billion spending plan.

Britain and France have announced ambitious stimulus plans to try to reinvigorate their faltering economies, but divisions have emerged with Europe's biggest economy, Germany, which is resisting pressure to provide billions more euros to finance EU economic growth measures.

European leaders are also seeking ways to boost lending to small and medium-sized businesses hit by a lack of funding.

Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU presidency, have worked together closely in confronting the global financial crisis.

The leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Italy -Europe's four biggest economies - met in London in January and again in Paris in October.

Mr Sarkozy invited Mr Brown to join a meeting of the 15 euro zone countries in Paris in October, even though Britain is not a member of the single currency.

Mr Brown's plans to rescue banks hit by the credit crunch were widely copied across Europe, but there has been disagreement over the need for big stimulus packages.

Mr Sarkozy announced a €26 billion stimulus plan for the French economy yesterday, targeting investment projects rather than directly aiding consumers.

Mr Brown's government set out plans last week to borrow record sums to finance a £20 billion package of tax cuts and spending. The centrepiece was a temporary cut in sales tax.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Berlin would stay out of a "senseless" international competition to spend billions of euros to boost flagging economic growth.

The German government says it has already unveiled two plans worth €31 billion to tackle the downturn.