HIGHLIGHTS-European Union summit in Brussels

BRUSSELS Oct 15 (Reuters) - The following are comments by European Union leaders and other officials on Wednesday, the first day of their two-day summit in Brussels.

EUROGROUP CHAIRMAN JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER

On market reaction to Sunday's decision by European countries on bailing out financial sector:

"The markets' reaction as far as the stock exchange is concerned -- we are moving in the right direction."

"Today's movements are less easy to interpret. We should not have a short-term view on this but a medium-term view."

DUTCH FINANCE MINISTER WOUTER BOS

"In the absence of American leadership at the moment, I believe the IMF should exercise leadership. It is the only place where all the countries of the world sit at one table and it has incredibly professional staff."

"Financial sector assessment programmes were conducted everywhere except the U.S. and China. I guess we are now approaching the time to make those programmes obligatory and countries should accept IMF advice."

"I can also see the IMF having a leading role in trying to produce lessons learned from this crisis and certainly in helping to develop a structure of supervision."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN

"This is not the time to abandon the climate change agenda ... the climate change agenda is part of the solution."

"It is obvious now that we are dealing with global financial markets. Ten, twenty years ago we had national capital markets."

"What we do not have is anything other than national and regional regulation and supervision."

"If we are going to sort out global financial problems, that are recognised to be global, we need better ways of doing this."

"The IMF has to be rebuilt as fit for purpose for the modern world. We need an early warning system for the global economy."

"We now see ... liquidity being brought into the system, recapitalisaion of our banks so they are stronger for the future."

"I hope we will find agreement also from the whole of Europe on what needs to be done, that all countries within the European Union will be a part of the programme that is necessary to stabilise the financial system and then to move the economy of Europe forward."

"I believe that stage one has been the stabilisation of the financial system, creating liquidity, recapitalising our banks and trying to get medium-term funding moving forward."

"I believe we also have to move to stage two."

"Stage two is to make sure that the problems that developed in the financial system, problems that we know started in America, that these problems do not recur again."

"We must ... make sure that the rules of the system are such that we have proper disclosure and proper transparency and supervision in areas where previously supervision was not required but we now know is necessary."

"And we have European and international cooperation, to deal with the management of the international financial system."

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO

"We are living in unprecedented times and we are seeing unprecedented action at EU level."

"It is critically important that the United States and the European Union appear together facing this situation and coming with concrete proposals for global regulation."

"Climate change is not an optional extra, not an aperitif or digestif, that we only take when we are feeling good."

"Let's keep to the targets that were unanimously approved by heads of state and government last year."