European Union leaders are to gather in Brussels on March 1 for an extraordinary summit designed to strengthen the bloc's unity in the face of the economic and financial crisis, the Czech presidency of the EU said Wednesday, dpa reported.
The convening of the meeting comes amid growing tension between Prague and Paris over French calls to relocate its carmakers' Eastern European plants back to France.
"We need a political debate to strengthen EU coordination in countering the crisis," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said after a meeting in Brussels with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
"The internal market is the vehicle that will drive us out of it," Topolanek said.
The premier said the informal meeting would look at both Europe's response to its worst recession in decades, and at ways of ridding its banks of toxic assets as a means of getting credit flowing again.
The March 1 meeting would prepare the groundwork for the EU's traditional spring council of March 19-20, in which "important decisions will be made," Topolanek said.
Barroso said the EU executive in Brussels would work to ensure that member states do not approve protectionist measures that may jeopardize the internal market.
France has also come under fire over separate plans to help its carmakers, but only if they maintain production at home.
Topolanek and Barroso announced a separate unscheduled meeting of EU heads of state and government for May. This summit will focus on ways to counter the current rise in unemployment.