EU December summit extended over two days

(BRUSSELS) - A summit of EU leaders set for Friday December 9 will now begin the previous evening, with the possibility that the eurozone states then break off into their own talks, diplomats said Wednesday.

They said leaders of all the European Union's 27 member states will shortly receive invitations to an informal working dinner on the Thursday.

Earlier that day, many EU leaders -- such as power couple in German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- will be in Marseille, on the French Mediterranean coast, for talks among conservative parties.

The diplomats suggested that a separate meeting of leaders of the 17 eurozone states could could be built into the Friday schedule, which one said was only to be expected given the deepening of the eurozone debt crisis.