The European Parliament president on Friday called for required action to regulate financial markets at the upcoming World Financial Summit in Washington.

"The World Financial Summit is a major opportunity, provided that it sends out the right signals for the required action," Hans-Gert Poettering said in a statement about the gathering that begins Saturday.

Poettering urged key players to take action, "as the financial crisis has shown that the market alone is not sufficient to create a sustainable and lasting financial system."

"Freedom needs regulation and the market must always also be linked to social obligations," the parliament president added.

He said "clear rules, a regulatory framework for banks, and transparency and supervision of the banking system" were needed now while describing the summit as "an acid test."

The European currency and the European central banks, Poettering said, have already played an important stabilizing role in the financial crisis while the countries of the euro zone have found a way of taking joint action together with Britain.

Poettering called on "European representatives at this summit to act in accordance with the requirements of a sustainable social market economy."

"Europeans now have an opportunity to assume a leading role in an equal partnership between the European Union and the United States of America," he said.

Poettering also reminded summit participants to not forget, on account of the financial crisis, poor countries and the vital objective of combating climate change.

"If governments spend billions rescuing banks, it must not be the poorest countries in the world that suffer as a result. We must also continue with resolve all our efforts to combat climate change," he said.

Leaders from 20 developed and developing countries will gather in Washington on Saturday to explore ways of reforming the existing global financial system so as to avoid future reoccurrences of the current financial crisis.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2008)