PARIS, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy will meet Saturday in Paris to agree on a European response to the global financial crisis, the French presidency said.

The announcement of the meeting of Europe's major economies came as the Netherlands proposed a European reserve fund to help troubled banks hit by the financial storm.

'This summit is aimed at preparing the contribution of European members of the G8 to the next meetings of this forum on the international financial crisis,' said an Elysee presidential palace statement.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and the head of the eurogroup finance ministers' committee, Jean-Claude Juncker, will also attend, it said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a world summit on the financial meltdown sparked by the US banking crisis, arguing for a more 'regulated capitalism' to replace the laissez-faire approach.

The president hopes the summit can be held in November bringing together the Group of Eight industrialised powers -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- and also emerging powers China, India and Brazil.

G7 finance ministers are to meet in Washington next week.

The meeting on Saturday was confirmed after Germany firmly rejected the rumoured plan for a 300-billion-euro Europe-wide bank rescue fund.

France denied it had put forward such a proposal and said it was the Dutch government that had come up with the idea for the fund.

The finance ministry in The Hague confirmed that it was proposing that a European fund after the United States put forward its 700-billion-dollar rescue package.

An aide to Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Thursday said France had never made any firm proposal for a bailout fund and decried what he termed as 'groundless accusations against the French.'

'There was an exchange of ideas, but no French proposals. There was no French plan, there is no French fund,' said the official, adding that no amount was put forward.