By Oana Lungescu
BBC News, Brussels
**The European Commission president has called on eurozone countries to decide on help for the debt crisis in Greece.**Jose Manuel Barroso said the response was a test of EU leaders’ commitment to financial stability as they start their two-day summit in Brussels.
But Germany, the largest economy in the euro-zone, is blocking a last-minute meeting of eurozone leaders.
It wants the International Monetary Fund to play a key role, and sanctions for countries that break budget rules.
It is not formally on the summit agenda but Greece is on everybody’s mind.
With German taxpayers fiercely opposed to bailing out the debt-ridden country, Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the IMF to take the lead in a joint package with the EU.
It would be the first time a eurozone country is rescued from Washington and some fear that would further weaken the euro.
Portuguese fears
The president of the European Commission made an urgent appeal to EU leaders to create a safety net for Greece.
Their response, he said, would be a test of their commitment to European and monetary union.
Mr Barroso happens to be a former prime minister of Portugal, whose debt was downgraded on Wednesday, in a move that heightened fears that the Greek crisis is starting to spread.
To ease the uncertainty, France and Spain have called for a last-minute meeting of eurozone leaders before or during the EU summit.
But the Dutch prime minister described such a meeting as risky.
And a senior German official insisted that any agreement would have to include tough conditions to avoid any future repeat of the Greek crisis.