French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this evening that Paris and Berlin would propose "important changes" to European treaties for closer integration of the eurozone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at a joint news conference after talks on the eurozone debt crisis, said the "goal is to have closer and more binding cooperation of eurozone countries" to avoid overspending.

Both leaders agreed on the recapitalisation of European banks, hit by the Greek crisis, but they gave no details.