ENOUGH economic stimulus. European Union leaders say they've paid out plenty already, and now is the time to rework the world's financial system and keep markets open. It's a hard message to sell to Europeans worried about soaring job losses. It may also prove a hard sell at a meeting of leading world economies at a Group of 20 summit on April 2. But EU nations are walking a tightrope. And so far they are erring on the side of caution. Instead of spending billions themselves, they say they need to plug the holes in the financial system that caused the credit crisis and are still curbing lending. That means buying toxic assets from banks to relieve them from crushing losses and introducing new rules and oversight to restore confidence in the banking sector. Instead of doling out cash payments or big tax breaks to shoppers to encourage them to spend, EU governments want to fix global trade by getting the leading economic powers at the G-20 summit to avoid new trade barriers and give more financing to exporters and importers. Relying on the rest of the world to help fix Europe's problems helps the region avoid a dangerous spiral. Leaders claim that they can't and won't follow bold US efforts such as the Fed Reserve's $1.2 trillion plan to increase the amount of money in the economy by lowering rates on mortgages and other consumer debt. That could lead to rampant inflation – something that European nations remember well from the late 1970s – and a crushing debt burden that would hit Europe's generous social security nets and aging population much harder than the US. EU leaders said Friday that existing efforts to spend up to €200 billion in stimulus packages “will take time for the positive effects to work their way through the economy.” They promised this would trigger new investments from private companies, boost demand, create jobs and help Europe shift over to low-carbon energy – which would wean it off expensive oil and gas imports. This careful approach angers workers' representatives who say action is needed now. They want governments to spend another €120 billion immediately to save jobs – and say this needs to be done EU-wide to help countries that can't afford even modest stimulus programs. They are promising to ramp up the pressure with a range of protest in May. Economic woes brought up to 3 million French workers out on strike Thursday – echoing street protests in worse-hit nations like Hungary, Latvia and Ireland.
