Informal European Council in Brussels

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic and acting President of the EU Council, and the EU Heads of State and Government met in Brussels on Friday, November 7, 2008. This informal meeting preceded the international Summit on the financial crisis scheduled for November 15, 2008 in Washington, which was to become the founding event for the reform of the international financial system. The Heads of State and Government reaffirmed the unity of EU member states as they face the crisis and agreed on a series of principles and approaches that could be adopted at the November 15 Summit. Finally, all member states agreed that the financial crisis is already affecting the real economy. As a result, they mandated the European Commission to prepare, by November 26, 2008, an Action Plan to rescue the real economy.