During the talks at Camp David, the sides will discuss plans for a summit of the world's largest economies to address the crisis. European leaders have said they want the meeting to produce agreements on reforming the global financial system.
Addressing a summit of French-speaking nations late on Friday, Sarkozy, who holds the EU presidency, said: "The world faces its worst economic and financial crisis since the 1930s. We need to reflect on what is at stake, how we arrived here, who is responsible, and what has happened... And we must draw lessons from it. The world must change."
Earlier on Friday, Sarkozy and Barroso met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They agreed on the need for an international summit, which would bring together the Group of Eight rich nations, as well as China, India and other leading economies.
Bush, who leaves office in January, has so far avoided talk of overhauling the global financial system.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Friday that countries should focus on immediate measures to calm the crisis.
"I think the most important thing we can do is make sure that we stop the bleeding here before we move on to the next project," she told reporters.
