EuropeÔÇÖs leaders less than united after Berlin summit

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} European leaders meeting in Berlin have agreed that a global solution is needed to solve the current financial crisis, and that all financial markets, including hedge funds, should be regulated.   The Berlin gathering is a preliminary to the next meeting of the G20 group in London on 2 April, which intends to rewrite the rules of the global financial system.   French President Nicolas Sarkozy said participants at the London summit would bear a "historical responsibility" to reform the global system. "We have to succeed and we cannot accept that anything or anyone gets in the way of that summit. If we fail there will be no safety net," he said.   In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that leaders faced an "extraordinary international crisis," concluding that: "We are making a commitment that all financial markets, products, and participants, including hedge funds and rating agencies, are of course subject to supervision and regulation."   Others, including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, warned against reverting to protectionism. He said there was a need to create an economy that is based on the "soundest principles," saying the world needed a "global new deal."   Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, however, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, expressed concern at what he saw as divisions between Europe's major economies.   "If I put it very tenderly, the divergence in opinions was rather big," the AFP news agency reported him saying. "It was obvious that the four countries representing the EU in the G20 [France, Germany, Britain, and Italy] do not have the same opinion on a number of issues."   Both Mr Topolanek and the European Commission have voiced concern at attempts by France, Italy and Spain to shelter their car industries from the effects of the downturn. President Sarkozy has even suggested that French carmakers should move production out of their East European factories and back to France in order to secure government aid.   European leaders need to resolve their internal wrangling quickly if anything is to be achieved in London in April.     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *