Brussels - European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Wednesday were set to rubber-stamp a 2-trillion-euro (2.7-trillion- dollars) financial rescue plan and call for a global answer to the credit crunch.

According to draft conclusions of the two-day summit seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, heads of state and government planned to "adopt (common) principles" put together on Sunday by the 15 countries that share the euro.

The British-style rescue package approved in Paris includes measures to guarantee interbank lending and to partly nationalize shaky financial insitutions by providing them with liquidity in exchange for shares.

"The European Council reaffirms its determination to act in a comprehensive and coordinated manner to restore the good functioning of the financial system," leaders were set to announce.

But while there is a shared awareness that common action is essential, some member states fear that such measures could create unfair advantages to some institutions.

"I will clearly want the European Commission's assurances that the planned steps are not a case of disallowed public aid," said Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek ahead of his departure for Brussels.

Speaking on Tuesday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso appealed to governments to put their divisions aside and sign up to the eurozone's plan.

"Even after this crisis, there are some governments that are opposing a more coordinated European approach ... I have boundless faith in the sense of responsibility and the common sense of our heads of state and government," Barroso said

"To try and go it alone in this climate would be a fatal mistake for any government anywhere in Europe," Barroso said.

In Paris, eurozone leaders also agreed to set up a financial crisis management unit tasked with sharing out sensitive information among the eurozone's key players and to come up with a rapid, common response.

The unit comprises governments, the EU presidency, the heads of the European Central Bank and of the European Commission, and the chairman of the eurogroup, Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker.

At their summit in Brussels, EU leaders were set to underline the need to "strengthen the supervision of the European financial sector", especially with regards to banks and insurance companies operating in several member states, and to discuss stricter rules for credit rating agencies.

And with the rescue plan likely to dig deeply into member states' public accounts, EU leaders were set to agree on the need to relax the bloc's strict budgetary rules.

"The application of the revised Stability Pact should reflect the exceptional circumstances that we are facing, as its rules allow," the meeting's draft conclusions state.

Officials in Brussels say this means that budget deficits would be allowed to exceed by "several decimal points" the standard 3-per cent-of-gross domestic product (GDP) limit.

Finally, EU leaders were set to call for a curb on managers' salaries and on the need to work with their international partners on "a real and comprehensive reform of the international financial system."

Such a system should be based on the principles of "transparency, banking soundness, responsibility, integrity and global governance."

US President George W Bush is due to hold talks with on the subject with Barroso and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, on Saturday.