Brussels - European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to reach a final deal on how to fight climate change in December after Polish threats of a veto were won over, officials said.

"The objectives remain unchanged and the calendar remains the same. It is now up to (European Commission) President (Jose Manuel) Barroso and myself to find solutions for those countries that have expressed their worries," French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who chaired the meeting, said.

Brussels - Tiny Malta obtained a symbolic victory Thursday as European Union leaders acknowledged that the burden of asylum- seekers entering the bloc should be shared out among member states.

At a summit in Brussels, EU heads of state and government formally approved a European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

The pact seeks to improve the management of legal migration into the EU, tighten controls on illegal immigrants and construct a common asylum policy.

Under pressure from Malta, whose geographical location in the southern Mediterranean Sea regularly exposes it to a massive influx of migrants from North Africa, leaders agreed to share out the country's burden, if only in principle.

Brussels - The European Union will do anything in its power to facilitate direct talks between Georgia and Russia following the collapse of talks in Geneva, but the chances of a quick breakthrough are slim, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday.

"After the big tension in August, it is very difficult to get face-to-face talks. But we will do everything possible," Solana said on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Solana's comments came a day after talks between Russia and Georgia in Geneva - the first since the Russian-Georgian war in August - were suspended amid mutual recriminations.

Brussels - The French government on Thursday was pushing for a European Union deal on fighting climate change in December, despite persistent opposition from Poland, official documents revealed.

Poland on Wednesday threatened to veto a draft EU summit statement if it involved a pledge to approve a sweeping package of laws on fighting climate change in December.

But after a night of intensive negotiations, the French government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, set out a new draft summit statement insisting that EU member states "reaffirm that (their) objective is to reach agreement in December."

Brussels - European Union leaders were Thursday set to reach a compromise over ambitious plans to fight climate change after the bloc's presidency agreed to take national differences into greater account.

In a concession to Italy, Poland and several other Eastern and Central European countries, leaders agreed to ask the EU presidency and the European Commission "to find appropriate responses to the challenges of applying (the climate) package in a rigorously established cost-effective manner".

Such responses should pay special attention "to each member state's specific situation," the draft states.

Brussels - European Union leaders Wednesday endorsed a major financial rescue package but remained deadlocked over plans to fight climate change, with Italy joining Poland in threatening to veto ambitious greenhouse gas cuts at a time of economic crisis.

The EU summit took place during yet another black day for the world's stock exchanges, with indexes plummeting amid renewed fears of a global recession.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stole much of the limelight in Brussels by proposing new rules for global capitalism.

"Global financial markets present challenges that no one nation can solve in isolation," Brown told fellow EU heads of state and government.