EU leaders back sweeping new financial rules

BERLIN (AP) — European leaders mounted a united front against the global financial crisis Sunday, proposing sweeping new market regulations, but it remained unclear whether economic giants such as the United States and China would go along.

Heads of government and finance ministers from Europe’s largest economies joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to lay the groundwork for a common European position on economic reforms before an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 nations in London.

Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic agreed to press for sanctions on tax havens, caps for managers’ bonus payments and a stronger role and increased funding for the International Monetary Fund.

Though the plans were based on an agenda the G-20 adopted in November, measures announced Sunday were more far-reaching.