Business leaders in the three largest eurozone states have appealed to their governments to make a “quantum leap” to tackle the region’s financial crisis, calling for urgent implementation of fiscal reforms, recapitalisation of European banks, and the creation of an independent European monetary fund.

The largest business federations in Germany, France and Italy issued their plea ahead of a bilateral summit in Berlin on Sunday between Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, where the leaders will try to agree moves to halt the financial market turbulence.

The organisations warned of the “deep crisis of confidence on international markets”, and called for Europe to make “a sustained contribution to restoring trust,” including a new treaty “as a step forward towards a closer political and economic union”.