BRUSSELS, June 28: EU leaders began on Thursday a two-day summit under intense pressure to overcome divisions on reshaping the eurozone and rescue the euro as turmoil battered top economies Spain and Italy.

The 27 EU heads of state and government began their talks amid jittery financial markets and calls from leaders around the world to find a solution to the debt crisis and save the euro bloc from a collapse with disastrous economic consequences.

The most likely concrete result from the first day of talks was a so-called “growth compact” — a package of measures amounting to some 120-130 billion euros ($150-$160 billion) to boost output and create jobs in the eurozone.

The measures, agreed in principle by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and France at a mini-summit last week, would redirect unspent EU funds to the most needy countries and bolster the coffers of the European Investment Bank.

“Growth must be at the heart of our commitments,” said French President Francois Hollande as he arrived for the meeting.

Weighing in behind the new French leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Europe needed growth to revive sluggish economies facing record 11 per cent joblessness.

“We have worked out a good programme, in particular for future investment and to give young people a better chance at a job,” she said.

Leaders had to make progress on bolstering the crippled eurozone economy, van Rompuy insisted. “Europeans expect no less from us.”

Ratcheting up the pressure, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned his country could not withstand for long the high borrowing costs bond markets are demanding and cautioned that key bodies were running out of cash.

And just hours before the meeting, Italy had to pay higher rates on five and ten-year debt, amid ongoing market tension as the crisis creeps from the edges of the eurozone to the centre.—AFP