国际英语新闻：EU leaders agree on limited treaty changes to handle debt crisis

BRUSSELS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) leaders agreed on Thursday to make limited changes to the bloc's treaty to accommodate a German-Franco call for the creation of a permanent mechanism to handle debt crisis.

Diplomatic sources said the EU leaders, meeting here for a two- day summit, had reached an agreement in principle and EU President Herman Van Rompuy would be tasked with examining options for "a light treaty change."

Germany and France had issued a joint call for changes to be made to the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty so that a permanent crisis resolution mechanism could be established to deal with future debt crisis in the eurozone.

The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso (L) and the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (R) talk to media at the end of the first session of the European Union Summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Oct. 28, 2010

The proposal was initially opposed by some EU member states, for fear that any renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, which replaced the failed Constitution Treaty and just came into force last December, would open a Pandora's Box and lead to years of bargaining and ratification chaos.

While leaving for Brussels to attend the EU summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated the necessity to change the Lisbon Treaty for "permanently assuring the stability of eurozone. "

Germany was the largest contributor to the 110-billlion-euro ( 152 billion U.S. dollars) bailout of Greece and a 750-billion-euro (about 1 trillion dollars) rescue package established in May to counter the spread of the Greek debt crisis, which would expire by 2013.

Berlin had objected a simple extension of the rescue package, warning that without changes to the Lisbon Treaty, any of its contribution to the future bailout of overspending eurozone members could be annulled by its Constitutional Court.

The treaty contains a clause which prohibits EU member states from bailing each other out.

The establishment of a permanent crisis resolution mechanism was part of a reform plan discussed on Thursday by the EU leaders, aimed to prevent and manage the Greek-style debt crisis.