PARIS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from France, Germany, Britain and Italy met here on Saturday to coordinate response of European Union (EU) member states to the escalating financial crisis.

    The French government said the mini EU summit aimed to prepare European members of the Group of Industrialized Nations (G8) for a larger meeting on the crisis although no date has been set for such a meeting.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L-R) pose for a family picture at a summit to discuss the international financial crisis at Elysee Palace in Paris October 4, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "This is a global problem that requires a global response ... Europe must show the will to propose a solution that will reassure everyone, taxpayers and depositors alike," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on his arrival for the meeting.

    In a letter to EU governments ahead of the summit, Sarkozy called for proposals to "avoid an unnecessary tightening of credit" to households and small businesses, measures to improve transparency in financial markets, ways to ensure bankers' pay was linked to performance and a strengthening of the EU's supervisory structure.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the aim of the Paris meeting was to "talk about better future prevention. I think that there is a high degree of agreement in our countries to guarantee that such crises do not occur again."

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wanted EU leaders to pledge that they will do their utmost to save troubled banks hit by the financial crisis, which originated in the United States and was spreading in Europe.

    "I want the message to go out of this meeting today that no sound, solvent bank should be allowed to fail for lack of liquidity," Brown said as he arrived for the meeting.

    "The signal will be very clear that every country represented here today will want to do whatever is necessary to secure the stability of the system and to ensure the safety of their hardworking families and businesses in each of our countries," he added.

    Brown was to propose a 12-billion-pound (about 21 billion U.S. dollars) fund at the summit to help small businesses overcome credit crunch arising from the international financial crisis.

    The money had been committed by EU member states at a meeting of finance ministers in Nice last month, but the British government wanted the European Investment Bank to make those funds available ahead of previous schedule.

    The summit was also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker.

    It was called by Sarkozy after several European banks fell prey to the financial crisis in the past week, prompting EU governments to infuse billions of euros to keep them afloat.

    Although the summit was designed to find a common European response, it was held amid sharp division among EU member states over a U.S-style European rescue fund.

    As the U.S. finally adopted the 700-billion-dollar bailout package Friday in efforts to contain the financial crisis, there was a call within the EU for a similar plan to help restore market confidence.

    Till now, all bank rescue efforts in Europe have been on national level or by several EU member states on an ad hoc basis. There was virtually no EU-wide coordination in place.

    Among the 27 EU member states, the Netherlands is pushing for an EU-wide bailout fund modeled after the U.S. plan, which would involve each nation putting aside 3 percent of its national gross national product, totaling around 350 billion euros (about 490 billion U.S. dollars).

    The Dutch proposal was reportedly favored by France, which holds the EU rotating presidency, but Sarkozy openly denied that any such project was on the table.

    The EU-wide rescue fund was also rejected by Germany and Britain.

    While many analysts see little possibility of consensus on a EU-wide bailout fund at this moment, the summit may help muffle discord between EU governments on certain issues.

    Sarkozy on Friday urged EU governments to avoid causing any "undesirable impact" on their partners and to abide by EU laws when rescuing banks or stabilizing the financial system.

    His plea was obviously referring to Ireland's recent decision to guarantee all the savings at Irish-owned banks.

    The unilateral move by Irish government angered other EU countries, notably Britain, which worried about a flurry of savings withdrawals from their own banks to Irish peers.

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday that the summit should warn EU members against action which hits neighboring countries.