EU adopts comprehensive package to shore up euro

European Union (EU) leaders endorsed a long-awaited comprehensive package of measures to shore up the euro Thursday, as a political crisis in Portugal renewed fears about the year-long debt crisis.

"We took important decisions this evening and even this night ... We decided a comprehensive package of economic measures" to deal with the debt crisis, EU President Herman Van Rompuy told reporters early Friday.

The package consists of an expansion of the EU's bailout fund, the establishment of a permanent rescue mechanism in the eurozone, a new round of stress tests in the banking sector and a new reform plan, called the Pact for the Euro, to improve economic competitiveness and convergence of eurozone economies.

For more: EU adopts comprehensive package to shore up euro