Britannia Radio

“Jittery” would be the word to describe the atmosphere leading up to  
Thursday’s gathering.  Here French ‘spinners’  ['fileurs' ?] report a  
possible tantrum by Sarkozy - if he can’t get his way he might stamp  
his foot and - - er --?

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THE TIMES                31.3.09
Nicolas Sarkozy’s threat to walk out of global summit
Anglo-Saxon gibe strains relations with Obama

    Charles Bremner in Paris and Philip Webster

President Sarkozy yesterday threatened to wreck the London summit if  
France’s demands for tougher financial regulation are not met.

France will not accept a G20 that produces a “false success with  
language that sounds good but contains no commitments”, his advisers  
said.

Asked if this meant a possible walk-out, Xavier Musca, Mr Sarkozy’s  
deputy chief of staff for economic affairs, said: “A basic rule with  
nuclear deterrence is that you do not say at what point you will use  
the weapon.”

The French threat dramatically raised the temperature hours before  
President Obama arrives in London today. If carried through, it would  
ruin a summit for which Mr Brown and Mr Obama have high ambitions,  
believing it vital to international recovery.

Mr Sarkozy, who blames the “Anglo-Saxons” for causing the economic  
crisis, told his ministers last week that he would leave Mr Brown’s  
summit “if it does not work out”.

A deal to tighten regulation will be one of the key features of the  
G20 accord but France wants a global financial regulator, an idea  
fiercely opposed by the United States and Britain. Mr Brown has  
described the notion as ridiculous.

Germany and other nations are reported to be against a global  
regulator and sources said that President Sarkozy must know that the  
proposal would not make progress.

Instead, countries will agree that their national regulators should  
cooperate more. So-called colleges of supervisors are likely to be  
established to monitor the activities of companies that operate in  
several countries.
British officials said it looked as if Mr Sarkozy was picking a fight  
he could present as a victory back home.

Mr Sarkozy’s threat underlines the emerging splits between world  
leaders. Germany and France have led opposition to plans to  
coordinate public spending, championed by the Administration of  
President Obama.

The importance of action to ease the economic decline will be  
underlined today by a report from the OECD, the umbrella group for  
Western democracies. It now expects the economies of its 30 member  
nations to slump by 4.3 per cent this year, against the 0.4 per cent  
drop that it forecast last November.

The group also warns that unemployment will reach 10 per cent by next  
year in most developed nations.
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2.Blow for Gordon Brown as world leaders prepare to stall at G20 summit

    Sam Coates and Francis Elliott

Britain’s G20 ambitions were dealt another blow yesterday after it  
emerged that a deal on coordinated action to pump money into the  
world economy will be delayed until a second summit.

As world leaders began gathering in London, the Australian Prime  
Minister disclosed that negotiations over the level of a fiscal  
stimulus needed to prevent a worldwide depression will take place at  
the following G20, which will not be hosted by Gordon Brown.

This came as leaders from China, Germany and Australia lined up over  
the weekend to warn that they were not yet ready to agree to further  
tax giveaways or benefits increases despite pressure from the US and  
Britain. Fears are rising that agreement at the London summit on  
Thursday may focus on more easily achievable goals, such as tax  
havens, rather than ensuring commitment to specific goals on spending  
and protectionism.

John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, has already warned Mr Brown not  
to rely too heavily on stardust from lining up alongside President  
Obama to yield electoral benefit.

“We can’t pin our hopes on what other people do, we can only pin our  
hopes on what we do for ourselves,” he told Progress magazine.  
“Whether we win a fourth term or not is down to us – it’s not down to  
President Obama or anyone else.”

[- - - - - - - - -  summation of earlier reports]