Euro must regain 'credibility,' says Merkel

(BRUSSELS) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that leaders must restore "credibility" to the euro currency as she arrived for an EU summit bogged down in rows over changing the bloc's treaty.

"It is important for me that the euro regains its credibility, that the treaties are changed in such a way that we head towards a stability union," Merkel said, also indicating that eurozone leaders will probably hold separate talks later.

"I assume there will also be a meeting of the Eurogroup and in this way we will move step by step towards our goal," she said.

With divisions growing between the 17 states in the currency union and the other 10 EU partners, Merkel said that it was in the interests of the non-euro partners that the eurozone stabilises.

Britain, Finland, Poland and Romania have each raised issues with a demand by France and Germany for treaty changes to bolster the eurozone.

"I think that those countries that are not in the euro have a fundamental interest in the eurozone working closer together towards a stable fiscal union," Merkel said.