Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said Monday he was satisfied with the results of a half-day summit of the European Union (EU) leaders held here as the majority of EU members agreed to sign a new fiscal treaty.

Monti said the meeting had been "fruitful," marking the end of an important phase for the stability of the eurozone.

A total of 25 EU member states, except for Britain and the Czech Republic, would join and sign the new fiscal treaty, the so-called "Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the economic and monetary union," which is designed to enshrine tighter deficit and debt discipline.

It is important that the EU reaches a political agreement and signs a treaty, not only because this would consolidate fiscal discipline, but also because it would shelve controversies on these issues, Monti said at a press conference after the summit.

"The treaty should give markets the reassurance that there is an institutional infrastructure within which we now operate. It should also give governments, institutions including the ECB, reassurance that Europe is now strong and single member states have constitutionalized fiscal discipline," Monti said.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the 17 eurozone states would sign the treaty at the next summit meeting in March together with non-eurozone leaders who are also willing to join.