Most members of the European Union agreed Friday to a new deal that will increase central control over individual government budgets. The plan is an effort to address the debt problems that have threatened the common euro currency and driven Europe into an economic crisis.

All 17 EU members that use the euro agreed to the plan, promoted by Germany and France, after long negotiations at an EU summit in Brussels. Some non-eurozone countries also agreed, but Britain – the strongest of the 10 non-euro countries, said it was still opposed.

The EU said non-euro countries could join the deal after consulting their parliaments.

Stock markets and the value of the euro rose Friday after the deal was announced. But economists’ opinions were split about whether the deal would do enough to prevent future fiscal crises and solve the current problems.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi called the deal “a very good outcome for the euro area” that would be “helpful in the present situation.”

EU leaders hope the plan will calm months of volatility in financial markets by offering a long-term solution to the eurozone government debt crisis. Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already received international bailouts because of their overwhelming sovereign debt, and some analysts feared even greater needs from heavily indebted Spain and Italy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday’s deal would make the euro more secure by imposing sanctions on countries who do not limit government budget deficits. The EU leaders also agreed to give the International Monetary Fund another $260 billion for programs designed to keep the current crisis from spreading.

France and Germany – the two strongest economies in the eurozone — wanted to change EU treaty and require more central budget oversight to avoid a repeat of the government debt crisis in Greece, Italy and other weaker members that threatened the currency union. The proposed changes also call for a unified corporate tax rate and a new financial transaction tax.

Any new treaty will have to obtain final ratification from member countries. EU officials said they expect it to be signed by March.

Britain opposed the plan because of concerns that it would undermine its sovereignty. One country can block changes in overall EU treaties, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy said having agreement by all the eurozone countries was acceptable as a first step.

The economy in the 17 eurozone nations has all but stalled, with some analysts saying it has already dipped into a recession. The European Central Bank took a modest step ahead of the summit to trim its prime interest rate.