This was the week that the US-originated financial crisis was distributed to Europe with a vengeance. With five European banks having crashed in a matter of days and a French budget minister finally acknowledging yesterday that the eurozone’s second biggest economy is in recession, the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Germany will hold an emergency meeting this afternoon in the gilded splendour of the Elysée palace in Paris to discuss their response.

In a letter sent to European leaders on the eve of the meeting, Mr Sarkozy said the European interest demanded an “intense effort of co-ordination”. “Our citizens are expecting from us resolute action to protect them,” he wrote.