BRUSSELS / BEIJING - European Union (EU) leaders said they are going to "take stock of progress" on the regulation of lax EU financial services, which helped worsen the global financial crisis after it originated in the United States, during a two-day summit that started on Thursday.

The leaders will endorse the report of the Task Force on Economic Governance, chaired by the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. The task force has presented several proposals to increase fiscal discipline and strengthen economic surveillance.

They will also determine the EU's position at forthcoming meetings with international partners - namely, at the G20 meeting in November in Seoul, the Cancun conference on climate change in November and summits with the US, Russia and Ukraine.