EU leaders sealed an agreement for a 200 billion euro plan designed to dig Europe out of recession and a package to combat global warming on thefinal day of a crunch summit in Brussels.
After persuading Ireland to submit a stalled EU reform treaty to a second referendum next year, the 27 leaders agreed to club together to fund an economic stimulus package and make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
"We are starting to change the way we do things in Europe -- talking less and doing more," French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who chaired the summit, told a press conference.
Although climate change deal was only sealed after protracted negotiations, leaders said there had been an overwhelming consensus on the need for a joint assault on the economic slowdown.
"Everybody was on the same line about the need for a recovery plan," said Sarkozy. "Exceptional situations need exceptional measures."
An eve of summit interview by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, who ridiculed the idea of "tossing around billions" to fend off recession, had indicated that the rescue package would prove a major bone of contention.
But British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose "breathtaking" USD 30 billion stimulus package was singled out by Steinbrueck, said the agreement was a riposte to those "who say you (should) do nothing".
"What Europe has proved unanimously today is that it is ready to act in a united way to deal with the global
downturn," Brown told reporters.
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