国际英语新闻：EU leaders seek unlikely happy end to euro's annus horribilis

Merkel knows that German banks will be among the hardest hit if Greece or one of the others defaults and she is aware of the benefits which the European currency has brought to German exporters who have fueled the country's current boom.

She has therefore agreed to the bailouts so far, although she put her foot down against the proposed increase of the emergency fund and firmly rejected a proposal put forward this week by Italy and Luxembourg for the EU to issue so-called "euro-bonds" which would have eased the burden on the weaker EU economies but could have led to Germany paying higher interest on its borrowing.

At the summit on Friday, Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they would soon present proposals for closer coordination of economic policies within the euro-zone.

"We will have to go further to confirm the necessity of convergence of economic policies in the euro zone," Sarkozy told reporters after the summit. He insisted European leaders were aware of the high stakes that went well beyond the short term economic crisis.

"The euro is at the heart of Europe. If the euro crumble, Europe will be fundamentally hurt," Sarkozy warned. "European integration has brought us peace and the euro is a symbol of this. If euro falls, it is Europe which will explode, so the euro will not collapse."