The leaders of France and Germany have been setting out in more detail some of their controversial proposals to strengthen the eurozone ahead of Friday's crucial EU summit. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have also repeated their call for a tax on financial transactions. From Brussels, here's Chris Morris.

法德领导人就其富争议的提议提出制定更多细节，意在周五重要的欧洲峰会之前强化欧元区。尼古拉·萨科齐和安吉拉·默克尔再次呼吁对金融交易征税。Chris Morris在布鲁塞尔报道。

On the eve of this summit, positions seem to be hardening. A senior German official said he was more pessimistic than he had been a week ago. Some countries, he said, still don't understand just how serious the situation is. He dismissed as a trick talk of introducing a new fiscal agreement for the eurozone within existing treaties. A letter sent to the president of the European Council by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy said the current structure of monetary union has failed. It sets out an ambitious agenda for tougher rules and automatic penalties for those who break them.

峰会之前形势似乎更加严峻，德国一名高级官员称，他比一周前更悲观了。他说，有的国家还没明白情况的严重性。他否认进行技巧谈判，以对欧元区现有协议引入一项新财政协议。安吉拉·默克尔和尼古拉·萨科齐发给欧洲委员会一封信，称目前的货币联盟结构已经失败。并提出一项更有野心的议案，要求制定更严厉制度，对违反的国家自动实施惩罚。