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Brown: Europe will "reach out to the world" on globalization

Dec 14, 2007, 10:41 GMT

Brussels - Globalization and the recent turmoil on the financial markets were among the top items on the economic agenda of European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday. 'We'll sign today a declaration on globalization which will be Europe reaching out to the rest of the world to meet all the challenges: economic development, environmental security and prosperity for the future,' Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on his arrival at the European Council building in Brussels. The national leaders and foreign ministers of the EU's 27 member states were later expected to sign a joint declaration on globalization setting out the EU's common position on global issues. 'We aim at shaping globalization in the interests of all our citizens ... For this even the enlarged Union cannot act alone,' the draft of their declaration states. In the draft, member states pledge to strengthen economic reforms in their own markets, lobby for international commitments to tackle climate change, work on improving the transparency of global financial markets, support democracy and development and agree on a common strategy to deal with migration. They will also 'press for increasingly open (global) markets which should lead to reciprocal benefits,' the draft adds. In recent months the EU has called for fair access to markets such as China and Russia, which are seen as being distorted by political measures. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Brown: Europe will "reach out to the world" on globalization

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