EU millions for Serbia

The summit is intended to discuss EU enlargement

The European Commission has promised 200m euros ($175m) in emergency aid for Serbia.

The Commission described the package as substantial, and said it would help people in Serbia get through the coming winter.

The aid package comes as European Union leaders prepare to welcome the new Yugoslav President, Vojislav Kostunica, to their summit in the French town of Biarritz.

There will be help to clear the Danube

The two-day summit is intended to give European leaders a final chance to resolve their differences over the reforms needed for EU enlargement.

An agreement needs to be signed and sealed in time for the new treaty at the Nice summit in December.

Urgent reforms

The aid promised to Serbia by the European Commission includes money for vital provisions such as food, medicines and heating oil.

There will also be help to clear the River Danube, which has been blocked by bridges damaged by Nato bombs last year.

The BBC Europe correspondent, Justin Webb, says the package is likely to be signed on Saturday - the day that Mr Kostunica arrives.

Our correspondent says that potential sticking points, such as Mr Kostunica's refusal to hand former President Milosevic over to the International Tribunal, are likely to be ignored for the time being.

Summit agenda

New charter of citizens rights

Reforms to prepare for enlargement

To welcome new Yugoslav leader

Discuss Middle East violence

The summit was originally intended to discuss moves to take in members from central and eastern Europe, and to ensure that the reforms could be adopted in December.

Failure to agree on the issues, such as a two-speed Europe, could jeopardise the whole timetable for EU enlargement.

But EU officials say the crises in the Middle East and Yugoslavia have diverted much attention from the reforms.

Basque protests

The talks have not been disrupted, as was initially feared, by Basque nationalists who held demonstrations in Biarritz at the start of the summit.

Thousands of Basque nationalists crossed into France from Spain

Police detained some 40 protesters in the centre of the town, which is in the heart of the French Basque country. No clashes were reported.

The French police have taken exceptional security measures, sealing off the entire city centre and cordoning off the main coastal road.

Thousands of Basque nationalists had crossed from Spain into France to stage protests.

Basque nationalists want to use the summit to highlight their demands the right to decide the future of their region, which straddles the Franco-Spanish frontier.

"We are calling for a Basque territory," said one 28-year-old activist. "There are no borders. This is a border imposed by Spain and France," he said.