The fact that the EU was able to take collective action when the pressure on financial markets was at its most intense was central to the stabilisation of the banking sector. Coordinating national action inside a set of clear EU principles, complemented with direct EU action, proved to be the right approach. It was backed up with decisive, coordinated and effective action: at the EU level by the French Presidency of the Council, the Commission and the European Central Bank, and at the national level by the Member States, with full support and cooperation from the European Parliament.

The EU should build on this success and decide to tackle the next stages of the crisis in a united, co-ordinated manner turning these challenges into opportunities; adding selected short term measures to the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. This paper sets out a three part approach which will be developed into an overall EU recovery action plan/framework:

• A new financial market architecture at EU level
• Dealing with the impact on the real economy
• A global response to the financial crisis

This Communication is presented as a Commission contribution to ongoing debate inside the EU and with our international partners on how best to respond to the current crisis and its aftermath. On 26 November the Commission will propose a more detailed EU recovery framework, under the umbrella of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, bringing together a series of targeted short term initiatives designed to help counter adverse effects on the wider economy and adapting the medium to long term measures of the Lisbon strategy to take account of the crisis.