France and Germany 'facing credit downgrades'

Ratings agency Standard and Poors (S&P) is preparing to downgrade the AAA status of France and Germany, according to reports.

According to the Financial Times, S&P will warn six of the top-rated Eurozone countries that they risk losing their AAA standing in the next 90 days.

It comes ahead of a crucial summit of Eurozone leaders this week to discuss the deepening debt crisis.

The other countries reportedly facing a ratings cut by S&P are the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg.

The warning comes after the leaders of Germany and France today called for a new European Union treaty to ensure that the region's debt crisis never happens again.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said after meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel that they would prefer a treaty agreed by all 27 members of the European Union but would also accept a treaty among just the 17 countries that use the euro.