Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Thursday against protectionism in the face of the global economic and financial downturn.

"We will master the crisis together," she told parliament ahead of a European Union summit beginning in Brussels later in the day.

Merkel said cooperation and not protectionism was the best way to combat the crisis, the effects of which have been felt around the globe.

The chancellor also cautioned against governments introducing new emergency economic packages before the ones already in place had begun to take effect - something some other European capitals have been putting pressure on Berlin over.

Merkel said she hoped the G20 conference of industrialized and emerging economies in London at the beginning of April would send an important message to the world.

"We need a psychological signal," she said, and not "a bidding war of promises."

Merkel said Germany had pumped more than 80 billion euros (107 billion dollars) to the EU's 400-billion-euro economic recovery package, making it one of the biggest contributors.

As the world's leading exporter, Germany had especially interested in ensuring that "the global economy gets back on its feet." (dpa)