EU holding economic crisis summit

President Sarkozy (left) denies that his bail-out plan is protectionist

European Union leaders are preparing for an emergency summit in Brussels seeking to bridge differences on how to deal with the global economic crisis.

The summit was called after French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to bail out France's car industry if it did not shift jobs out of France.

The French move raised fears that national protectionism could scupper hopes of recovery within the EU.

Leaders of badly-hit European nations will also meet prior to the summit.

Many of the newer EU members of Central and Eastern Europe have seen their financial institutions and economies battered by the developing recession.

The heads of nine of those nations - among them Hungary and Latvia, both facing serious liquidity problems - will gather before the full summit begins.

They are then expected to highlight their concerns about protectionism and call for more help from richer EU nations, reports the BBC's Oana Lungescu, in Brussels.

However, officials have played down chances of EU leaders taking any decision on Hungary's call for a 180bn-euro (