BRUSSELS – European Union leaders are using a Thursday summit to try to fix deep, long-standing problems with their economy by forging tougher rules to rein in government overspending — and prevent another debt crisis.

Though the summit's formal focus is on long-term solutions, the 27 EU leaders also face more immediate worries about potential losses hitting European banks and continuing speculation about market pressure possibly pushing Spain to seek outside financial help.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will make a new attempt this week to convince financial markets they can contain a debt crisis by agreeing how to tighten economic policy coordination and strengthen budget discipline.

The 27 EU member states and the executive European Commission will also set out plans for boosting economic growth and creating jobs at a summit on Thursday, three days after the leaders of Germany and France discuss strategy in Berlin.

LUXEMBOURG – European Union nations vowed Tuesday to start cutting debt by next year at the latest and to tighten oversight of each others' finances to regain credibility with markets and rein in the debt crisis.

All but a handful of countries in the 27-nation bloc are violating EU deficit limits and their ability to reduce debt is critical to maintaining trust in their economies, keeping borrowing costs down, avoiding national defaults and restoring faith in the 16-country euro.

LUXEMBOURG – The European Union on Tuesday thrashed out ways to toughen oversight of how governments run their economies in a bid to regain credibility with markets and prevent a repeat of the debt crisis afflicting the region.

EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn said he expects finance ministers from the 27-nation bloc would move quickly to reinforce economic governance at a meeting in Luxembourg, a day after most agreed on more sanctions for countries with risky finances.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AFP) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met EU leaders Monday for a summit overshadowed by the euro zone's economic woes but aimed at resolving longstanding trade and visa disputes.

The meeting in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don is the first between Medvedev and EU President Herman Van Rompuy, who leads the EU since the Lisbon Treaty took effect last year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Spain turned to austerity while China and the United States offered soothing words about Europe on Thursday, providing a respite in the euro-zone debt crisis that allowed markets to recover.

Spain's governing Socialists won parliamentary approval for a 15 billion euro ($18.4 billion) austerity package by a single vote in an effort to cut its budget deficit and regain market confidence.

GENEVA – Can anything stop the euro's decline?

With the single currency facing the biggest crisis of its existence, European governments this month thrashed out a $1 trillion bailout for struggling member states. Market reaction was cool; the euro sank this week to a four-year low against the dollar before recovering somewhat, and European stock markets have taken a battering.

On Friday, after another round of tense meetings, European Union finance ministers promised new punishments for countries like Greece that threaten the continent's solvency with fiscal imbalance.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Senate approved a reform of Wall Street on Thursday and President Barack Obama may be signing into law the most sweeping changes to financial rules since the 1930s as soon as next month.

It implements pledges the United States, the European Union and other leading countries in the Group of Twenty made in 2009.

BRUSSELS – EU countries should act jointly to regulate so-called naked short-selling of shares and investments to reduce volatilty in financial markets, the European Commission said Wednesday.

A day after Germany unilaterally imposed such a ban, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said eurozone finance ministers should coordinate their efforts at a special meeting on Friday in Brussels.

ATHENS (AFP) – European governments were under pressure on Tuesday to tighten their belts as jitters returned to world markets despite the creation of a giant financial safety net to shore up the euro.

A day after an EU-IMF one-trillion-dollar support plan sparked market euphoria, shares in Asia and Europe fell and the euro faltered amid worries that Greece and other debt-burdened countries will not carry out tough austerity measures.