The leaders of France and Germany, Europe's two largest economies, have reached a joint agreement on helping Greece hours before an emergency European Union summit in Brussels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy held last minute talks in Berlin Wednesday to try and bridge their differences. Neither side gave any details on their agreement. But Ms. Merkel's spokesman has said that nothing can be done without a common German and French position.

Ms. Merkel has been saying that private investment is required if Greece is to get a second economic bailout. Mr. Sarkozy has been insisting that private investment should be voluntary.

EU leaders will talk about another multi-billion dollar economic bailout for Greece Thursday in Brussels. Last year's $160 billion loan from the EU and International Monetary Fund failed to bring any major improvements to the debt-ridden Greek economy.

Ireland and Portugal have also gotten EU and IMF bailouts and investors fear the problems could spread to other shaky EU economies, including Italy and Spain.