EU chief welcomes approval of US rescue plan

BRUSSELS: EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has welcomed US lawmakers' approval of a multi-bn-dollar rescue plan, saying they had "shown responsibility" in tackling the US-born financial crisis.

"I welcome the vote of the US House of Representatives," Barroso said in a statement received Saturday.

"By approving the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the US legislators have shown responsibility."

The US House of Representatives approved the revised 700-bn-dollar Wall Street bailout Friday, on its second try, bowing to intense pressure to help avert a global economic meltdown.

President George W Bush signed the bill and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged to "move rapidly" to implement the plan to buy up assets distressed by the housing collapse, in the largest US government economic intervention since the 1930s Great Depression.

Barroso said that the European Union had "taken its responsibilities throughout the turmoil and continues to do so."

He call on all the EU's international partners "to cooperate in the most effective way".

The financial crisis, which has led some EU nations to devise their own bailout packages for ailing banks and financial groups, was the subject of an emergency meeting in Paris Saturday of the leaders of Europe's four biggest economies - Britain, France, Germany and Italy. EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has welcomed US lawmakers' approval of a multi-bn-dollar rescue plan, saying they had "shown responsibility" in tackling the US-born financial crisis.