European Union officials are considering extending eurozone bailout loans to Greece and Ireland to 30 years in a bid to draw a line under the bloc's debt crisis, two eurozone sources said on Friday.

The sources said European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber, head of Germany's influential Bundesbank, had suggested stretching out the maturities from three years for Greece and seven for Ireland as part of a comprehensive package to overcome the crisis.

The idea surfaced in intensive talks among euro zone ministers, central bankers and officials on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, the sources said.

"There are all sorts of ideas. I don't know how much weight this one carries. But of course it's not unheard of. Britain and some other countries only paid off some World War I bonds just recently," a senior eurozone source said.