HIGHLIGHTS: EU leaders' pre-G20 summit in Brussels

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The following are comments by European Union leaders in connection with their meeting on Thursday in Brussels, held to prepare for next week's Pittsburgh summit of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies.

SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY'S FREDRIK REINFELDT

Asked whether EU leaders had discussed a possible tax on international financial market deals:

"It is not in the agreed language that we have presented from the meeting."

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO

"We have already put on the table, the (European) Commission, some precise rules on bonuses and remuneration. Not only recommendations, but legally binding proposals. So whatever the result of Pittsburgh, this Commission position is that yes, we should adopt in Europe some of these rules."

"The G20 must act to turn ... recovery into sustainable prosperity."

"The G20 must step up a gear on financial market reform."

"We must show zero tolerance for any return to the bad old ways."

ECB PRESIDENT JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET

"It's no time for complacency, we have hard work to do."

SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY'S REINFELDT

"Banks, some of which owe their very survival to massive support of taxpayers' money, should not be able to take advantage of good results in the future, pretending that the crisis was only a minor setback."

"On the financial market and bonuses, we have agreed to say that enough is enough and that we need to move away from the current culture of compensation based on short-term performance."

"We have agreed at our meeting tonight that exit strategies out of the crisis need to be decided now, but implemented later as soon as the recovery takes hold."

"The outlook is uncertain and the risks remain. We see signs of stabilization of global growth, on the other hand we expect large ... deficits in 2010."

On bank bonuses:

"I think we need a cap for the bonuses as part of your income or part of the revenue of the company you are working at or part of the income of the company."

"I hope to see a European agreement on this. We of course know that the U.S. is very often against this idea. It is not the only regulation needed to be done concerning bonuses but we think it is an appropriate measure together with others."

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN

On when to withdraw fiscal stimulus:

"I think there will be coordination (on exit strategies)."

"It is vital for the future ... how we can maintain action to ensure that we do not derail the recovery."

"Exit strategies are obviously under discussion."

"What we are discussing now, and for Pittsburgh, is about the whole growth strategy for the world, how we can avoid unemployment becoming a bigger problem for the years to come."

On bank bonuses, financial supervision:

"People have been rewarded not for the long-term successes of their companies, but for a deal that often proved to be short-term and ... unproductive."

"If there is an area that is outside the supervisory net, then there is a risk that unscrupulous people ... move to those areas at the risk of the economy."

On bank bonuses:

"I am personally appalled by some of the practices that have been going on at some institutions."

GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL

On a global tax on financial market deals:

"Such a tax is reasonable on an international level. We will see if we find a common European position on that tonight."

On bank bonuses:

"For me what is paramount is that no bank and no financial institution can blackmail states."

"Second, that we accomplish limits on bonus payments and uniform rules."

"Third, that we draw lessons from the crisis and work on a charter for a sustainable economy."

"I am optimistic that we can make clear that bonus payments have to be linked to long-term performance and linked to bank profits."

BRITAIN'S BROWN

On bank bonuses:

"There is no going back to the bonus structure of the past. I believe we will be able to agree on the structure of how the bonuses should be examined in the future. I am confident that at Pittsburgh there is a common will to achieve action on something that has angered the populations of almost every country.

On economy, stimulus:

"Recovery cannot be taken for granted ... I will tell my colleagues this is no time for business as usual."

"The greatest risk we face is being too complacent about the future."

"Until the recovery is established, all countries must implement ... stimulus packages that have been announced, not just this year, but throughout 2010."

"So I propose that we continue and cement the more than 5 percent of global GDP, or more than $2.5 trillion, of fiscal action in the coming year."

"With the creation and preservation of jobs uppermost in our minds in Pittsburgh and in the coming year, we must be ready to commit to even greater levels of economic cooperation."

"I will propose tonight that the Pittsburgh summit should agree a historic global compact for long-term stability and jobs. It will be unprecedented political commitment from all G20 countries to continue to act together for the benefit of all countries and all citizens."

"In short I am proposing an agreed process of international cooperation, with political leadership using the international institutions to create the foundations of a new system of managing our global economy."

SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY'S REINFELDT

"We need to formulate exit strategies ... the solution cannot be highly indebted countries."

"We will discuss the return of the bonus culture ... we need to deliver on this ... it is time to say enough is enough."

"I hope tonight we can say the bonus bubble has burst."