Gordon Brown in Belgium

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was in Brussels on Thursday for meetings with the European Commission and the Belgian Premier Guy Verhofstadt (Flemish liberal).

Speaking in Brussels Mr Brown called for the creation of an independent European carbon bank to improve the functioning of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme and help fight climate change.

"We favour the creation of such a bank to set caps on carbon permits and establish how the carbon market should operate in the future," the British leader told a news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on a visit to the EU executive.

Mr Brown also voiced his disappointment on hearing the news that the US intelligence agency CIA had used the British island Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to transport secret captives.

While in Brussels Mr Brown also had a meeting with the Belgian Premier Guy Verhofstadt.

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