Leaders of France and Germany call for tougher EU treaty

The leaders of France and Germany have proposed changes to the EU treaty which they say will help deal with the eurozone debt crisis and ensure a similar crisis never happens again.

Speaking after they held crisis talks in Paris, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said eurozone states should face greater checks on their budgets and sanctions if they ran up deficits.

The Paris talks come ahead of an EU summit on Friday that is being seen as crucial for the future of the single currency.