The eurozone's efforts to solve its escalating debt crisis plunged into disarray Thursday, when Germany and France called a second emergency summit after it became clear that they would not be able to bridge their difference in time for a first crisis meeting Sunday.

Sunday's summit was supposed to deliver a comprehensive plan to finally get a grip on the currency union's debt troubles by detailing new financing for debt-ridden Greece, a plan to make Europe's banks fit to sustain worsening market turbulence and a scheme to make the eurozone bailout fund more powerful.

The announcement came from the offices of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel after it became clear that the currecy union's two biggest countries could not agree on the main points of the plan.

Both governments said that all elements of the eurozone's crisis strategy would be discussed on Sunday "so it can be definitively adopted by the Heads of State and Government at a second meeting Wednesday at the latest."

It also said that the two leaders would meet Saturday afternoon ahead of the summit in Brussels in the hope of making progress.

Merkel's spokesman Steffan Seibert told journalists that further changes to Europe's bailout fund would require the agreement of the Bundestag, the German parliament.

"A two-step summit allows for this to take place," Seibert said.

Merkel's address to parliament scheduled for Friday was cancelled, and Seibert said it would take place next week.