European Union (EU) leaders on Friday discussed at a spring summit whether to double a bailout fund of 50 billion euros (US$69 billion) for struggling Eastern European nations.

Earlier on Thursday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the leaders may agree to double the current ceiling of financial support to Central and Eastern European members.

At the Friday summit, the leaders also agreed to allocate 5 billion euros (US$6.9 billion) from the 27-nation bloc's unspent budget to fund energy and broadband infrastructure projects as part of a stimulus package.

The money will be spent in 2009 and 2010.

Barroso said the leaders agreed on a concrete list of projects that need to be funded.

They also agreed to increase the reserves of the International Monetary Fund.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2009)