The prime minister of Belgium says the eurozone's bailout fund should have a firepower of more than 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) to prevent the currency union's debt crisis from spreading.

"I think that effectively, it has to be able to intervene a good deal beyond 1 trillion euros," Yves Leterme said.

He was heading into a crucial emergency summit of European leaders in Brussels.

At the summit, the leaders will seek to set up a complicated scheme to give the 440 billion euro bailout fund more leverage, reduce Greece's massive debt and strengthen banks across the continent.