MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
NPR's Rob Gifford reports from London.
ROB GIFFORD: Speaking after several hours of talks, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown emerged to read a text full of diplomatic words about cooperation, but not very full of concrete suggestions.
GORDON BROWN: Faced by this uncertainty and always vigilant to risk, we're agreed that the fundamentals of the European economies remain sound. And we have committed to cooperate closely to maintain economic stability, to strengthen and deepen economic reform, and to support enterprise. We're agreed that at this time of global uncertainty, we need to signal our commitment to an open economy.
GIFFORD: Perhaps with that and the subprime mortgage meltdown in the U.S. in mind, the one word that Gordon Brown repeated over and again was the word transparency.
BROWN: Authorities need to cooperate and exchange information effectively within the European Union and internationally to prevent and manage crises and contagion. Based on these principles, we are calling for greater transparency to secure better informed markets.
GIFFORD: Professor Ian Begg of the London School of Economics says today's meeting did not amount to much.
IAN BEGG: Well, it does look to me as though they're engaging in a confidence-building exercise. In short, the announcements about new measures to increase transparency and to regulate better are smack very much of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
GIFFORD: Rob Gifford, NPR News, London.