Brussels - A meeting of the leaders of the crisis-hit countries of Central and Eastern Europe set for March 1 is not a sign of panic or a split within the European Union, diplomats from the countries involved said Friday.

EU leaders are set to hold an emergency summit on the economic crisis on that date, and the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Baltic states, Bulgaria and Romania are due to hold a meeting of their own just before it.

Berlin - Germany hopes for a solution to the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, to enable Croatia to join NATO and the European Union (EU), German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday.

After a meeting in Berlin with his Slovenian counterpart Samuel Zbogar, Steinmeier referred to the offers made by EU Commissioner Olli Rehn and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari to mediate in the dispute over a bay on the Adriatic coast.

Slovenia and Croatioa should approach each other with a constructive and flexible mindset, Steinmeier said.

Brussels - The European Union's executive fears that an Italian plan to support the car industry could break EU rules, officials in Brussels said Friday, just days after they raised similar concerns over French and Spanish plans.

"As far as the Italian measures are concerned, we do have some concerns," European Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd told journalists in Brussels.

The commission "will be writing to the Italian authorities today, and we will ask them for detailed information on this system, to be provided within five working days," he said.

Berlin  - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday spoke of concerns that Europe's markets could face further destabilzation.

He made his comments during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We are worried about a further destabilization of the financial markets and economies," Barroso said. He added that further measures were being considered, such as regulations for hedge funds, investment funds and management compensation packages.

Geneva  - During dispute settlements sessions at the World Trade Organization on Thursday, the United States and European Union continued to argue over tariffs on banana imports and bans on genetically modified foods.

The US alleged that the EU was failing to comply with a judicial body decision on bio-tech products, saying that nine member states had bans in place on the goods which were "not based on risk assessment," meaning they were not proven to have negative health consequences or similar concerns.

Brussels - Italy, Spain and Greece are the worst countries in the European Union for breaking the bloc's laws on creating a single market, with Poland catching up fast, a study published by the European Commission in Brussels on Thursday showed.

Italy is currently facing legal action - known as "infringement proceedings" - from the commission in no fewer than 112 cases, the highest figure in the bloc, the EU executive's report said. Spain was second with 103 cases.

Greece came in third, with 91 cases, closely followed by Germany, with 90.