The delay, announced by the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, came a day after largely inconclusive talks between the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who promised to act but provided no details.

An agreement to expand the bailout fund for the euro zone, agreed to by leaders in July, requires unanimous approval from member state parliaments. But in Slovakia, which along with Malta are the only ones yet to approve it, the governing coalition on Monday failed to reach a compromise on an endorsement, The Associated Press reported. A vote on the matter in the Slovakian parliament was scheduled for Tuesday.

The failure to reach a deal underlines the extent of political deadlock in Slovakia that could threaten final approval of the euro’s expanded 440 billion euro, or $600 billion, bailout fund. One E.U. official said there was growing concern about the Slovakian vote in Brussels, but also hope that the measure would be approved.

In Athens, there were signs that international lenders were close to agreeing with the Greek government on the terms by which 8 billion euros in aid could be released. Without the loans, Greece will default within weeks.

But E.U. officials also acknowledged that they needed more time than anticipated to put together a coordinated plan.

In a statement, Mr. Van Rompuy said a summit meeting of E.U. leaders, originally scheduled for Oct. 17 and 18, had been delayed until Oct. 23 to give the bloc time “to finalize our comprehensive strategy on the euro area sovereign debt crisis covering a number of interrelated issues.”

The declaration suggested that the extra time was needed to address some of the questions that Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy discussed in Berlin on Sunday.

Though the two leaders announced that they were in agreement that European banks need recapitalization, they declined to give any details on the plan that they would propose by the end of October.

That was enough to buoy investors. The euro soared against the dollar, and stock markets in the United States and Europe were up sharply.

But it seemed to have done less to satisfy officials tasked with drawing up the agenda for the forthcoming summit meeting. “They don’t appear to have agreed on anything substantial,” said an E.U. official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The official added, however, that the additional time “could point to the fact that they are preparing something big.”

Paris and Berlin were believed to remain at odds over how to recapitalize European banks, with France favoring using the bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. French banks have worrying levels of exposure to bonds from southern Europe. But, with presidential elections looming next year, Mr. Sarkozy is resisting any recapitalization plan that would risk his country’s triple-A credit rating.

Germany, on the other hand, favors action by national governments, confident that it can handle its own banks’ exposure to sovereign debt.

With no obvious consensus emerging from the Berlin meeting, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, may find it difficult to produce a blueprint acceptable to both sides.

Another central question facing the European Commission is whether to propose an increase in the scope of the 440 billion euro bailout fund by allowing it to leverage its financial resources.

Both these issues appeared to be identified in Mr. Van Rompuy’s statement as requiring “further elements” in discussions — as was the plight of Greece.

In Athens, the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, told a parliamentary committee Monday that talks with visiting auditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, known collectively as the troika, had concluded and that only “certain technical issues” remained to be addressed.

The minister also suggested that any disputes regarding the government’s agreement with the troika would be quickly resolved, noting that if necessary he would “personally ensure that conclusive political solutions are found.”

Last week, euro zone finance ministers delayed a decision on whether to release the latest installment of aid because of the standoff between the troika and the Greek government.

Speaking outside Greece’s Parliament on Monday, Mr. Venizelos said he expected improvements in a second bailout package for the country with regard to private-sector involvement.

Niki Kitsantonis contributed reporting from Athens.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 10, 2011

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to a measure still pending for approval by the parliaments of Slovakia and Malta. At issue is the expansion of the euro bailout fund, not a second bailout package for Greece.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/business/global/eu-delays-high-level-meeting.html?partner=rss&emc=rss