Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy Meet to Discuss World Economy

Europe will work hand in hand with the new American administration to combat the global economic downturn, Gordon Brown said today.

Flanked by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and Jos? Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, the British prime minister warned against protectionism and insisted a world trade deal was vital.

The declaration followed talks at Downing Street on the worsening global economy, ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on the issue later this week.

Brown said: "We will work hand in hand with the new American administration to combat the global economic downturn."

He added: "We are all agreed that protectionism is something we must avoid in the weeks and months ahead."

Any return to protectionism would only "repeat the mistakes of the past", Brown warned.

"We are at the 11th hour and must send a signal against protectionism to sign a new world deal," the prime minister said.

After a Downing Street discussion on further actions required to stimulate economic growth, the three attended a round-table discussion with business leaders at Lancaster House.

While France, like Britain, has launched it own "fiscal stimulus" package of tax and spending measures to try to get its economy going again, the prime minister's spokesman said last week that more needed to be done across Europe.

Officials said that today's meeting would be looking at measures to ease the pressure on firms, such as cutting red tape to help reduce costs.

Brown is said to be keen to see more funds released through the European Investment Bank to increase the flow of credit available to business at a time when lending from the banks remains extremely tight.

The leaders will also be considering ways of generating new "green collar" jobs through the move to a low-carbon economy.