---

European Affairs

I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman, but the minutes of that decision have not yet been published on the Danish Parliament website. He will have to wait until the 17 December discussion in the European Parliament. However, the position of the UK Government is very clear: the Council compromise position should be defended, as that is very much in the interests of the British economy and British workers. I look forward to that happening. The G20 meeting in Washington last month was an important step in securing a decisive and systematic international response to the economic crisis. Governments around the world have recognised that a globally co-ordinated stimulus, in terms of both monetary and fiscal policy, represents the best response to the current crisis. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has said:"““If there has ever been a time in modern economic history when fiscal policy and a fiscal stimulus should be used, it's now.””" President-elect Obama said on Sunday:"““We've got to make sure that the economic stimulus plan is large enough to get the economy moving.””" The place where this stimulus matters most to the UK is in the rest of Europe—