The president of the European Union says he is delaying next week's summit until October 23 because leaders need more time to finalise a plan to fight a worsening debt crisis. The EU summit was originally planned for next Monday and Tuesday. Herman Van Rompuy said the new timing will allow the euro zone ''to finalise our comprehensive strategy''. He said leaders needed more time to conclude discussions on financial aid to Greece, the recapitalisation of banks and giving the euro zone bail-out fund more firepower. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed over the weekend a response to the euro zone debt crisis within weeks, insisting they were united on plans to shore up Europe's banks. Without announcing concrete details, Sarkozy promised, after talks with Merkel in Berlin, "lasting, global and quick responses before the end of the month", amid rampant fears of a crippling credit crunch. After reports that France and Germany, Europe's two economic powerhouses, were at odds over how to proceed on bank recapitalisation plans, Sarkozy said yesterday that "agreement is complete". "An economy is not prosperous without stable and reliable banks," he told reporters after the talks which lasted over an hour and were to be followed by a working dinner. Merkel also said that Paris and Berlin agreed on the recapitalisation of banks, adding they were "decided on doing what is necessary to recapitalise the banks in order to assure the granting of credit to the economy". She also said the two countries' banks would be treated "according to the same criteria". Leaders want to prevent any new, bigger reduction of Greece's debt triggering a banking crisis reminiscent of 2008 which set off a global recession. Berlin and Paris had reportedly differed over how to go about recapitalising Europe's banks, which the IMF thinks will need between €100-200 billion to cover potential losses. Germany, Europe's strongest economy and effective euro zone paymaster, wants under-pressure banks to first turn to investors for funds before appealing for national or European cash. It wants the EU's €440 billion European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) bailout fund to intervene only as a last resort.