BERLIN, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Europe faces the risk of a major recession and collective action is needed to keep such a scenario at bay, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday.
"There is a danger that it doesn't remain a small recession, especially if one does nothing. One must act quickly, with vigour, and collectively," Lagarde told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
European Union leaders head to Brussels later on Thursday for a summit on the economic crisis. Germany has come under criticism from some of its European partners for ignoring calls to top up a stimulus package.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has even attacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel's handling of the crisis, saying late last month: "While France is working, Germany is thinking."
Lagarde said European countries had responded to the crisis in different ways.
"I am not shocked by the German position. We have the same analysis, diagnosis and the same goals. The tempo is not exactly the same. The British have marched a bit ahead of everyone else," she added. (Writing by Paul Carrel; editing by David Stamp)