European stocks fell early Wednesday, resuming their slide as a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to calm worries over the euro zone debt crisis.

At 3:03 a.m. EDT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1 percent at 959.95 points.

France and Germany unveiled a plan for closer euro zone integration, but stopped short of raising the region's rescue fund and rejected for now the idea of a common euro bond.

"There weren't any scoops as the proposals had been mentioned over the past few days. Overall, the outcome of the meeting wasn't convincing, with no euro bond project," said Patrice Perois, trader at Kepler Capital Markets, in Paris.

Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) fell 4.4 percent and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) dropped 6.7 percent after Sarkozy and Merkel unveiled a plan to tax financial transactions.

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