European Commission President Barroso has stressed the importance of Germany's role in combatting recession in the EU - je 09.12.2008 08

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has stressed the importance of Germany's role in combatting recession in the EU. His comments followed criticism here in Germany of the decision not to include Chancellor Angela Merkel in a meeting Monday between Barroso and British and French leaders. Their topic was the EU's 200-billion euro stimulus package, and the omission of Merkel is being widely interpreted as a sign of their discontent with her government's modest reponse to the crisis.