Brussels - Grey office blocks and European Union civil servants - that's the common image of Brussels.

But behind this cliché lurks a colourful scene waiting to be discovered especially for followers of fashion. A walk through downtown Brussels reveals a palette that reaches from chic boutiques to shrill trendy shops.

"Most people think of fashion only in terms of haute couture from Paris or London, but Brussels is right at their doorstep," said Anne Weger of Belgium's tourist bureau in Cologne.

Brussels - European Union leaders ga

Brussels- European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Wednesday were set to rubber-stamp a 2-trillion-euro (2.7-trillion- dollars) financial rescue plan and call for a global response to the credit crunch.

According to draft conclusions of the two-day summit seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, heads of state and government planned to "adopt (common) principles" put together on Sunday by the 15 countries that share the euro.

Brussels - The European Union must prove that it can lead the world in solving the financial crisis and fighting global warming, EU leaders said Wednesday ahead of a summit in Brussels.

"Europe is leading the global response: We must continue to do so. An urgent priority is to further deepen cooperation on the international level, specifically with the United States," the head of the EU's executive, Jose Manuel Barroso, told journalists after a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Brussels - The European Union's member states should be able to react to sudden gas shut-offs by transferring part of their own consumption to fellow-members, the French government is set to say at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday.

And the EU should try to obtain more energy from Africa and hold a "high-level meeting" with the countries of the Caspian basin and transit states such as Turkey and Georgia in spring 2009 in a bid to kick-start the diversification of gas supplies, the proposal adds.

Brussels  - Former Polish president Lech Walesa and Mario Monti, a former European commissioner from Italy, are to join a European Union "reflection group" tasked with discussing the bloc's long-term future, diplomats in Brussels said Tuesday.

The creation of such a group was first proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and later endorsed by EU leaders at their last December summit.

Headed by former Spanish premier Felipe Gonzalez, it is to look at the major challenges facing the EU over the next two decades.