MARSEILLE, France (AP) — The leaders of France and Germany hoped to rally fellow European conservatives today around their latest bid to save the euro currency from collapsing under the weight of huge state debt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were meeting with heads of state and government from the centerright European People’s Party in this Mediterranean port before moving on to Brussels for a crucial EU summit, with the 17-nation eurozone’s fate in the balance.

Merkel and Sarkozy will try to build support for their plan for eurozone nations to submit their national budgets to much greater scrutiny. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s injected urgency into those talks by warning it may downgrade the bonds of all 27 EU nations.

The two leaders’ plan seeks to enshrine tougher budget oversight in the existing EU treaty or alternatively, by creating a new one for the 17 eurozone nations that others could opt in to. It proposes automatic sanctions for breaking rules and a requirement to balance national budgets.

Arriving at the meeting, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso tried to project optimism that a deal to save the euro was in reach.

“I believe this is possible. My appeal — my strong appeal — to all the heads of state and government is to show this commitment to our common currency. I think this is indispensable, and leadership is about making possible what is indispensable,” Barroso said.

Markets have mostly risen since last week on hopes that an agreement can be reached.