France's Sarkozy says Europe needs own sovereign wealth funds

Strasbourg: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said European Union member countries should have their own sovereign wealth funds and that they should coordinate action to invest in the bloc's industry.

"We should look into the opportunity to have our own sovereign wealth funds," Sarkozy said at the European Parliament on Tuesday in Strasbourg. "They could coordinate to work together" in these times of financial crisis, he said.

Separately he said that "the financial crisis brought us the economic crisis, and the economic crisis is here."

He saluted the European Central Bank action during the crisis and reiterated that he respected the ECB's independence.

Sarkozy said all financial institutions must work under the umbrella of a supervisor, without giving further details.

"The monetary system has to be reshaped as well as the fixed rates and the rates indexes on currencies," he said.

France currently holds the rotating European Union presidency.