French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a joint call here on Monday for greater regulation of international financial markets.
"We cannot allow a few speculators to bring down the whole international system, borrowing under any conditions they like and buying at any price they want and without knowing who is lending," Sarkozy said at a press conference after talks with Merkel at a castle outside Berlin.
"We are in favour of transparency and regulation (of financial markets) and for a capitalism that benefits businessmen and not speculators," Sarkozy said. Merkel said: "I spoke about more transparency on the financial markets, which is a concern the German government has had for months... and it has always been supported by France.
"Given the current finance situation, it has gained in relevance." The comments from the French and German leaders came after several weeks of turbulence on international money markets prompted by heavy losses in the highly risky US subprime loan sector.
Merkel is likely to make a similar call when she meets US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in Berlin on Tuesday. "I would like France and Germany to have similar ambitions," Sarkozy said. "Nuclear energy is the energy of the future," the president said, adding that he wanted to raise the profile of the issue of future energy policy within the European Union.
"We cannot stay as we are in Europe when we are confronted with a situation in which the gas will run out or, in 30 or 40 years, there won't be any more oil," Sarkozy added. Merkel also said she supported Sarkozy's call for the creation of a pan-European "committee of wise men" to consider the future of the European Union.