European Union (EU) finance ministers held informal talks in Brussels on Wednesday to hammer out a common position ahead of a meeting with their G20 counterparts later this week.
The ministers were expected to discuss a proposal raised by Germany and France to increase the EU's contribution to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 175 billion U.S. dollars to help countries suffering from the financial and economic crisis.
EU leaders previously pledged to provide 100 billion dollars to increase their share of the IMF's New Arrangement to Borrow, or NAB, as part of the global deal reached at the G20 summit in London early April to triple the IMF resources to a total of 750 billion dollars.
In a letter to their EU counterparts released on Monday, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck and France's Christine Lagarde said the two countries were ready to contribute two-thirds more to the IMF.
"We call on our EU partners to join us," Steinbrueck and Lagarde said. "This would be a signal that EU member states continue to fulfill their commitments and lead by example."
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling also said on Monday that his country would pledge up to an extra 11 billion dollars to the IMF, taking Britain's total contribution to more than 26 billion dollars, British newspaper the Guardian reported.
The EU finance ministers meeting will also discuss plans to withdraw fiscal stimulus strategies after pumping billions of euros into the crisis-hit EU economies.
"While countries around the world continue their effort to promote economic recovery, there is a clear understanding that international coordination is necessary both to consolidate public finances from the moment the recovery takes hold and to pave the way towards a more sustainable global growth model," the EU said in a press release ahead of the special meeting.
The ministers are likely to call for international coordination in gradual withdrawal of global fiscal stimulus plans at the G20 meeting, but they have acknowledged that timing is essential since removing the stimulus too soon would be detrimental to the momentum of economic recovery, while slow withdrawal would increase the risk of inflation.
The informal meeting is the first of a series of meetings among EU countries in preparation for the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25.
"The main purpose of the Pittsburgh meeting will be to assess progress in meeting commitments made at the London summit of April 2, 2009, including notably on the reform of financial market regulation, and to discuss the macroeconomic situation and future global growth model in the light of the origins and consequences of the economic and financial crisis," the EU said.
The EU has been a driving force behind the international financial reform in the wake of the financial crisis.
"Regarding financial market reform, the key topics of Pittsburgh are expected to include prudential rules, remuneration policy and accounting standards," the EU said.
Among other issues, Germany and France are demanding actions to rein in bankers' bonuses.
"There is now a global public opinion. All over the world, people are sickened by the bonus system. We want to bring to an end the scandal of bonuses," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday.