French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a stern warning to the global financial industry and the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama not to interfere with European plans to set the agenda for the G20 summit in the spring.

For the next six months, Prague will set the agenda for the European Union. It looks to be a tough tenure as the EU struggles to deal with renewed conflict in the Mideast and faces its worst economic crisis in decades.