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17.51 Next to arrive in Brussels is caretaker Greek PM Panagiotis Pikrammenos, who shouldn't get used to these EU summits as he'll be replaced - hopefully - by a democratically elected PM next month when the country holds a second round of elections.

17.44 Greeks are withholding taxes just as their country is in greatest need of cash, reports Reuters. A senior finance ministry official said state coffers will fall 10pc this month as people are nervous of the country's future:

People are suspending some payments because we are in a pre-election period and also because of uncertainty stemming from a potential Greek euro exit.

17.32 Yet more confusion over contingency plans for a Greek exit from the euro. First we heard that eurozone nations had been told by the Eurogroup to make plans, then the Greek Finance Ministry denied that this was the case. Now Belgium's finance minister, Steven Vanackere, says it's "irresponsible" to suggest that countries don't have a just-in-case plan hidden away:

All the contingency plans come back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid. We must insist on efforts to avoid an exit scenario but that doesn't mean we are not preparing for eventualities. I believe many countries have their contingency plans for the things they want to avoid at all cost, like terrorist attacks, and to say that we don't have a contingency plan would be irresponsible.

17.25 Angela Merkel has spoken on the way into the Brussels summit. She said she'll propose a stronger use of the European Investment Bank and more labour market mobility in the EU. But she also said that no decisions were expected this evening.

17.16 As well as EU leaders, protesters have arrived in Brussels: the man below has a sack on his head, a rope around his neck and calls for the introduction of a financial transaction tax.

17.06 EU leaders are now arriving at the summit in a lengthy procession of glossy executive cars. Here is France's new President Francois Hollande.

16.57 There's been confusion this afternoon over reports that eurozone nations had been ordered to prepare contingency plans for a Grexit; Francois Hollande announced within minutes that he knew nothing of it. Now the Greek Finance Ministry has issued a statement:

The Ministry of Finance categorically denies the reports stating that during the teleconference of the Euro Working Group on May 21st 2012, it was agreed that each eurozone country should prepare contingency plans for the potential consequences of a departure of the Hellenic Republic from the single currency area. Such reports not only are false, but actually hinder the efforts of the Hellenic Republic to address its challenges at this critical juncture.

16.54 And a bit more from Damian Reece, on what European leaders hope to gain from this key meeting in Brussels:

16.49 A brief video interlude now: the Telegraph's Head of Business, Damian Reece, explains the potential fallout for the UK economy if Greece leaves the eurozone:

16.42 European markets have drawn to a close, as EU leaders make their way to Brussels for a summit.

The FTSE 100 lost 2.53pc, the DAX dropped 2.33pc and the CAC slipped 2.62pc. The biggest movers were Spain's IBEX, which tumbled 3.31pc (its lowest level since 2003), Portugal's PSI, which dropped 3.3pc, and Italy's FTSE Mib, which slid 3.68pc.

15.25 The Bundesbank says, in a monthly report, that a Grexit would be "manageable"; for the first time one of the most important players in the debate is saying it could even be the lesser of two evils, says Bruno Waterfield, our man in Brussels.

The Bundesbank said:

The challenges that this would create for the euro area and Germany would be considerable but manageable given prudent crisis management.

By contrast, a significant dilution of existing agreements and treaties and strongly weaken incentives for national reform and consolidation measures. In such circumstances the institutional status quo comprising liability, control and individual responsibility of members states would be fundamentally called into question.

15.13 Reuters reported earlier that the Eurogroup - the collection of eurozone finance ministers - had called for nations to develop a contingency plan for a Grexit. Within minutes Francois Hollande had muddied the waters by claiming to know nothing about any such order.

Channel 4's Jon Snow has just met the Belgian Finance Minister, who admitted that he was working on a plan. We'll bring you more on this story as it comes in.

15.05 The US markets have opened for the day, echoing European shares and falling ahead of this evening's European summit in Brussels.

The Dow Jones has lost 0.5pc, the S&P 500 is down 0.45pc and the Nasdaq slipped 0.51pc.

14.42 More from Hollande now, who's been holding a joint press conference with Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy:

I will do everything I can in my position to convince the Greeks to choose to stay in the zone and everything to convince Europeans who might doubt it of the necessity of keeping Greece in the eurozone.

14.19 French President Francois Hollande says he'll address the need for a European growth pact, banking liquidity and euro bonds at this evening's EU leader summit in Brussels:

The top priority is injecting liquidity into the European financial system to ensure that European banks, all European banks, can be consolidated.

14.03 The EWG may want countries to prepare for a Grexit, but Spain's PM Mario Rajoy says it's for the best that Greece remains in the single currency. Worryingly, new French President François Hollande says he's unaware of any memo asking countries to develop a contingency plan at all.

13.47 More details on orders from the Eurogroup Working Group to craft contingency plans for a Grexit: it was all agreed during an hour-long conference call on Monday afternoon. Reuters also claims to have seen a memo sent to each eurozone country with some pointers on policies they could draft into their plans. It called for an "amiable divorce" if the worst came to the worst.

One eurozone official familiar with what was discussed on the call said:

The EWG agreed that each eurozone country should prepare a contingency plan, individually, for the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro. Nothing was prepared so far on the eurozone level for now, for fear of leaks.

13.37 The Eurogroup Working Group - the collection of finance ministers from those countries which have adopted the euro - has apparently told eurozone governments to prepare "contingency plans" for Greece leaving the single currency. The orders came in a telephone conference call on Monday, reports Reuters.

13.17 A quick update on the European markets now:

The FTSE 100 has slipped 1.67pc, the CAC is down 1.78pc, the DAX has lost 1.45pc and Spain's IBEX is now down 2.02pc.

On the fall in London, independent technical analyst Cliff Green said:

The mood is very negative at this stage. We probably haven't seen the bottom yet, but it appears that we are into the last stages of the downward move.

13.01 The Daily Telegraph's Jeremy Warner tweets on Germany's zero-return bonds:

12.50 Ed Miliband has questioned the PM's austerity plan: "It's not working in Britain, it's not working in Europe. It's a failed plan."

Cameron replies with a criticism of Labour plans to increase borrowing and investment: "Nobody I can find in Europe, not even I suspect the left wing party in Greece, backs his idea of an extra £200bn of borrowing into the UK economy... it would wreck our prospects."

12.44 David Cameron is back from his G8 trip in the US, and is speaking in the House of Commons. He's said that the eurozone problem can no longer be "fudged" and that action needs to be taken. He's affirmed that he wants the second election to be treated as a referendum on Greece's future in the eurozone.

11.45 Sticking with the German theme, the Bundesbank has stuck its oar into the Greek debate, telling the country it is putting any future financial aid at risk by failing to elect a government which promises to stick to the bailout terms.

The German central bank said:

A significant dilution of exiting agreements would damage confidence in all euro area agreements and treaties and strongly weaken incentives for national reform.

The Bundesbank said the system of eurozone central banks had assumed "considerable risks" by providing Greece with large amounts of liquidity.

"In light of the current situation, it should not significantly increase these risks," the bank said.

11.20 German bond market is a popular place to be, and so should the country's stock market, according to Rob Smith, investment manager of the Baring German Growth Trust at Baring Asset Management.

German shares have fallen today along with the rest of Europe, down 1.8pc, and have also declined in recent weeks along with the rest of the region. However given the German economy is export-led and in growth, this is not fair, Mr Smith argues.

German equities have seen some selling pressure in recent months along with the rest of the European equity markets, as investors continue to express concern over the future of the euro. Since the end of March, the DAX 30 Index has declined by 9.2pc in euro terms in an environment where the broader European market, as represented by the MSCI Europe ex UK Index, has fallen by 10.6pc.

This followed a period of very strong performance from the German market earlier in the year, particularly in March, so perhaps a degree of profit-taking was to be expected. However, while we appreciate that many investors are in “risk off” mode at the moment, we believe the decline in the German equity market is not justified by either economic or corporate fundamentals.

Our assessment of the situation at the moment, from the companies we have met and the earnings statements we have analysed, is that it remains very supportive for German corporates, with earnings likely to surpass last year’s level, in our view, and come out considerably ahead of the rest of developed Europe.

11.10 Germany has held a bond sale at which investors have rushed to buy the country's debt for no interest in return.

The zero percent bonds - what my colleague has described as a sophisticated mattress - give investors somewhere they regard as safe to park their cash.

Today, Germany sold €4.56bn of two-year bonds, which carry a zero-percent coupon, with an average yield of just 0.07pc. That's effectively free money for the German government.

The sale of zero-coupon bonds was announced yesterday, when the government said it would offer €5bn of the bonds.

Last week Germany paid the lowest rate in its history to borrow for 10 years, paying an average of 1.47pc.

By contrast, Spain's borrowing costs on 10-year governemnt bonds rose to 6.16pc and Italy's to 5.82pc

10.40 This morning's Daily Telegraph Adams cartoon combines two hot topics - the economy and the weather:

10.30 The pound dropped against the euro and the dollar when the poor retail sales figures came out. However, sterling quickly recovered against the single currency and is now trading flat at €1.2429.

However the pound is still down against the dollar, falling as much as 0.6pc to $1.5671 at 09.30 and now trading at $1.5671.

10.00 Economists say the fall in retail sales in April does not bode well for the UK economy returning to growth in the second quarter, when we also lose a working day because of the Jubilee bank holiday:

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight said:

While a number of special factors contributed to the marked drop in retail sales in April, the fact is that they fell 2.3pc month-on-month overall which weighs down on the prospects for the economy returning to growth in the second quarter – particularly as it has to deal with the overall hit to activity that will come from the extra day’s public holiday in June arising from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

It is evident that there are currently a lot of pressures on consumers as they face uncertain and worrying times, so they seem likely to be cautious overall in their spending over the next few months at least.

09.40 Two bits of economic news from the UK - the first, a surprise - retail sales dropped 1.1pc year-on-year in April, when economists expected them to climb 1pc.

Secondly, the latest Bank of England minutes are out, showing the nine Monetary Policy Committee members voted unanimously in favour of holding interest rates at 0.5pc, and voted 8-1 in favour of holding the quantitative easing programme at £325bn.

However, the decision was "finely balanced" for some MPC members, with rising inflation weighed against the eurozone crisis and economy going back into recession indicating that more QE could be needed.

09.10 Looking at European markets now the rest of the indices are trading, it's a gloomy picture:

The FTSE 100 is down 1.3pc at 5.335.6 points, the CAC is off 1.4pc in Paris and the DAX is down 1.4pc in Germany.

09.00 It's not just the markets which have small hopes for tonight's EU leaders summit - Paul Mason, economics editor on the BBC's Newsnight, says now is the time for action before it's too late for Greece:

08.20 Today's EU leaders summit in Brussels is the 18th such emergency meeting (on some counts), but for new French PM Francois Hollande, it will be his first.

With his arrival, the issue of common euro-area bonds, known as eurobonds, rises to the top of the agenda.

The yoking together of the debt of all the euro nations has been grimly opposed by Germany, but Mr Hollande, along with Mario Monti, the Italian PM, and Jose Manuel Barroso, preseident of the European Commission have all backed the idea.

No final decisions are expected from tonight's meeting - one reason the markets have wavered this morning - but splits over the issue will be seized upon by investors trying to work out where the eurozone is going.

08.00 London markets are now open and have fallen:

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.2pc to 5,339 points shortly after trading started.

07.50 But it won't be all Greek today - Spain is also going to be grabbing some headlines.

The country will set out its plans for Bankia, the lender which it had to part-nationalise earlier this month. Reports last week that customers had pulled €1bn out of the bank caused its shares to fall as much as 30pc.

The government is likely to confirm how much money it will pump into the ailing bank.

A Spanish government source told Reuters that talks on the size and form of the bailout - through loans, equity or cash injection - are being held between the economy ministry, the Bank of Spain, Bankia and Goldman Sachs, which was hired last week to value the lender.

A final decision may not be made before Economy Minister Luis De Guindos addresses a parliamentary committee (at 5pm London time) on the take-over of Bankia and the restructuring plan for the lender, although he will want to give key details of the government's strategy, the source said.

07.30 Markets in Asia declined today, as caution set in ahead of a meeting of European leaders following yesterday's rally.

The Nikkei fell 2pc in Japan to 8,556.6 points, while the Hang Seng lost 1.3pc in Hong Kong.

The futures market is also pointing to the European markets opening lower.

The FTSE 100 is expected to fall 1pc at the open, as are the French and German indices.

07.20 Sticking with the Greek theme, the country last night agreed to inject €18bn (£14.5bn) into four of its largest banks, with the money expected to come through as soon as today.

Bankers say the recapitalisation will allow National Bank, Eurobank, Alpha and Piraeus to receive funding from the European Central Bank (ECB) again.

The central bank cut off these Greek banks last week because they lacked enough capital to be considered solvent.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund said it had approved an agreement to release the funds, which will come in the form of notes issued by the EFSF, the eurozone's financial rescue fund.

07.15 An update from IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who has done an interview with Radio 4.

She's been talking pretty tough on Greece, saying "being part of the eurozone has a price".

The Greek population has voted in a particular way which is not conducive to the formation of a government. But at the same time, they very strongly support belonging to the eurozone. There's an inconsistency there.

She added that "somebody has to pay the price" of Greece's unmanageable debts.

It may be that members of the eurozone will be prepared to support more and for longer the Greek population to stay within the zone. The members may consider the integrity of the zone to be more important.

07.10 Meanwhile, the "Grexit" talk continues. Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, said Greece would be better off economically if it exited the eurozone.

Following the NATO summit in Chicago. Mr Klaus last night said:

The long-lasting problems in Europe have been irresponsibly, widely underestimated... This debt crisis is only the tip of a much bigger, much deeper and much wider iceberg [...] It would be much better for Greece to leave the eurozone, which is almost not allowed, impossible and so on.

07.00 EU leaders will gather for a special summit today in Brussels. Top of the agenda? Greece and eurobonds.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that she found it “astonishing” that her pro-austerity stance was the cause of controversy in Europe, while Michael Meister, a member of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, said there was nothing to stop France and Italy from going it alone on common bonds.

06.50 The IMF was in town yesterday, as the spotlight moved from events in the eurozone to more domestic affairs.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF's managing director, urged Britain to step up its recovery plan - or consider a Plan B. Philip Aldrick reports:

Warning that weak growth was putting the country at risk of permanently high unemployment, the Bretton Woods institution called for swift and co-ordinated action between the Bank and the Treasury.

If the joint efforts had failed to have much effect by November, the Government should then consider cutting taxes and boosting infrastructure spending by as much as £30bn, said the IMF.

In an unusually alarmist annual assessment of the UK, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that "growth is too slow and unemployment too high, and policies to bolster demand before low growth becomes entrenched are needed".

However, she stressed that austerity had been the right course for the UK, applauding George Osborne as "courageous" and insisting that fiscal stimulus should only be considered as a last resort.

06.45 Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the European debt crisis.

Debt crisis live: archive