国际英语新闻：Eurozone leaders gather to draw lessons from debt crisis in Greece

BRUSSELS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Eurozone leaders will attend a special summit later Friday to conclude the aid process for debt-riddled Greece and draw lessons from the crisis they fear may spread.

The heads of state and government are expected to show their solidarity in solving the biggest problem the bloc has faced in more than a decade and stress the urgent need for tightening fiscal rules within the group.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), said Thursday the special summit was an opportunity for the leaders to demonstrate to the world that the 27 member states were in the same boat and moving in one direction, "the direction of confidence, of budget deficit reduction, of economic growth, of gaining in competitiveness and of shared responsibility."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for a special EU summit in the Justus Lipsius, the headquarters of the European Council in Brussels, capital of Belgium, May 7, 2010. Eurozone leaders get together on Friday for a special summit to conclude the aid process for debt-ridden Greece.

In a joint letter published Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the need to strengthen the budgetary regulation of all the eurozone member states.

"We must draw the lessons and take all the necessary measures to avoid a crisis of this nature happening again," the two leaders wrote.

"The budgetary surveillance must be improved and EU should set tighter sanctions for those countries that cannot keep their deficit under control," they said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament Wednesday EU budget rules must be applied strictly and genuinely while all eurozone member states should adjust themselves to narrow the gaps of their countries' competitiveness.