Brown Says Euro Region May Pursue Comprehensive Plan

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he discussed a ``comprehensive plan'' of measures with European leaders to help stem the financial crisis and the British premier believes they will press ahead with the proposals.

``Today we discussed a comprehensive plan that would involve not only cash in financial markets, but also recapitalize our financial system'' and fund mortgages, Brown told reporters in Paris after an emergency summit. ``I believe our European colleagues will move ahead with the comprehensive plan. There's common ground now.''

French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought together the leaders of the U.K. and the euro nations in a race to agree a new set of measures to stem the global crisis before financial markets open tomorrow. Their failure to act a week ago contributed to the region's worst stock sell-off in two decades.

``European leaders have come together in the recognition that although they can do things individually they are far better achieving something that is bigger by working together,'' Brown said. ``There will be agreement that the liquidity provided by the European Central Bank is essential and that the recapitalization of the banks is necessary and there should be rules attached to doing that.''

`Collective Spirit'

Brown said European leaders will make ``quite a detailed statement'' today. ``I saw a collective spirit, a coordinated approach, people wanting to take action together,'' he said.

The talks come after finance chiefs from the Group of Seven nations established guidelines on Oct. 10 for combating the credit crunch, while falling short of adopting new initiatives.

``The most precious asset of all is confidence, and it's something that has been lost in recent weeks,'' Brown said. Now it ``is something that we will restore through coordinated intervention '' Brown said.

The British government tomorrow is likely to say it will underwrite share sales of as much as 35 billion pounds ($60 billion) in four of the nation's banks, the Sunday Times reported today. Governments in Europe and North America are preparing plans to buy stakes in banks as the credit freeze threatens to tip the world into a recession.

``The purpose of this isn't just day to day liquidity, but to ensure that banks are able to do what everyone expects them to do, which is to lend to businesses and homeowners in a way they can afford,'' Brown said.

The U.K. government may appoint its own representatives to the boards of the country's biggest banks as it acquires stakes in them, a government official said yesterday. Brown said today that this was ``a matter for individual negotiations with banks.''

Brown wanted ``to persuade European countries to adopt the comprehensive approach we have taken in Britain,'' he wrote in the Sunday Mirror today. ``For Europe, the stakes could not be higher and this is the moment of truth.''

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