France Calls For G-7, G-20 Meetings On Japan Crisis

PARIS (Dow Jones)--France called Wednesday for a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading nations to
 assess the consequences of the Japanese crisis on markets, as well as a meeting of energy and economy ministers of the
Group of 20 industrial and developing nations , to foster international cooperation on energy.
  French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said finance ministers and central bankers from the G-7 countries--the U.S.,
 Japan, the U.K., France, Canada, Italy and Germany--would discuss ways to support Japan's response to the crisis,
including the potential purchase of Japanese bonds.
  "I've asked for a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bankers to see how we can buy [Japanese] bond issues
and how we can react on a financial level," Lagarde said coming out of the weekly cabinet meeting in the Elysee
courtyard.
  French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he will call for a meeting of energy and economy ministers of the G-20 in the
coming weeks to review options for the global energy mix.
  A French government official said the G-7 meeting will take the form of a conference call, and will happen before the
end of the week, although he noted that it is too early to assess the consequences of the Japanese crisis on the world
economy.
  The G-20 meeting could happen before the one planned in Washington on April 14-15, though the schedule could be tight,
 considering G-20 finance ministers and central bankers are also due to meet in Nanjing, China, soon, the official said.

  Sarkozy took a strong stance in favor of nuclear energy. The country, he said, remains committed to nuclear power, on
which it depends for about two-thirds of  its energy needs, and isn't planning to stop any of its 58 reactors, although
a thorough check will be carried out on all of the country's nuclear plants.
  "France has made the choice of nuclear energy, which is key to its energy independence and in the fight against
greenhouse gases... I remain today convinced of the pertinence of this choice," Sarkozy said in a statement. "The
lessons from the Fukushima accident will be drawn with a complete review of security systems of our nuclear plants. This
 work will be made public," he said.