Franco-German deal reached over Greece's debts
 Mrs Merkel says the priority is for Greece to put its house in order |
France and Germany have reached a deal on a financing plan to help debt-laden Greece, which will include IMF money.
The safety net - not yet agreed by the whole eurozone - would total about 22bn euros (£20bn). It would apply only if market lending to Greece dried up.
Eurozone countries would grant co-ordinated bilateral loans, and there would be "substantial" IMF loans. The "majority" funding would be European.
EU leaders are poised to discuss the plan at a two-day summit in Brussels.
A draft of the plan, seen by the BBC, says the Greek government "has not requested any financial support", so "no decision has been taken to activate" the mechanism yet.
The French presidency said there would be "very precise conditions" under which the 16 eurozone countries "could be led to intervene" to help Greece.
News of the deal broke as leaders of the 27 EU member states gathered in Brussels.
 |   What seems to be emerging is that Germany wants to use the crisis with Greece to bend the eurozone more to its own image  Gavin Hewitt BBC Europe editor  |
Diplomats say the eurozone leaders may hold an additional meeting on Thursday evening to discuss how to help Greece.
So far the eurozone has avoided seeking an IMF loan for Greece, preferring a European solution and anxious to maintain global confidence in the euro.
Revision of rules?
Earlier on Thursday Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German government "will press for emergency aid combining IMF and joint bilateral aid from the eurozone but... only as a last resort".
She has signalled reluctance to offer Greece anything resembling a bail-out, which is not allowed under the single currency rules.
Greece has enacted unpopular measures to curb its deficit, including a freeze on public sector wages, pension reforms and increases in fuel taxes.
It is also having to refinance its debt. Because of doubts over its ability to pay, it is having to pay interest at about 6% - around double what Germany has to pay.
Mrs Merkel said she would press for the EU to amend its treaties to strengthen its ability to prevent future budget crises.
Stressing the need to learn lessons from the crisis, she wants a treaty change to allow sanctions to come into force should a eurozone country ever default on its debts.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou urged EU leaders to act to stabilise the euro. The single currency hit a 10-month low against the dollar on Wednesday after a credit downgrade for Portugal, which is also struggling with heavy debts.
Focus on Greece
Greece's woes have exposed fundamental disagreements about how the 11-year-old euro project should work, the BBC's Europe business reporter Nigel Cassidy says. The eurozone's governance will have to be re-examined, he adds.
A deal to help Greece could prevent the crisis sapping market confidence in the euro and ease fears of contagion in the eurozone.
EU members Hungary, Latvia and Romania have received emergency loans from the IMF and EU as their budgets have been hit hard by the global economic downturn. But, unlike Greece, they are not in the eurozone.
The Greek crisis is not formally on the agenda of the summit, which is officially concerned with the EU's 10-year economic strategy, and reinvigorating international negotiations over global warming.
But, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels, it is Greece that is on everybody's mind.
German taxpayers are fiercely opposed to bailing out Greece, which is burdened by debt of nearly 300bn euros (£267bn, $407bn) and a public deficit of 12.7% of GDP - more than four times the official eurozone limit.
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