Rome - A planned lunch Friday in Rome between the heads of the Italian, French and German governments may be postponed, an Italian government source said.

The reason for the possible postponement is an "unexpected domestic policy commitment" on the part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the source said.

However, the trilateral summit may proceed anyway via teleconference, without a lunch, the source added.

Sarkozy hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to a lunch summit in Strasbourg last month. The meetings between the leaders of the euro area's three largest countries are supposed to lead to improved diplomacy at the European Council summits held to solve ongoing strains in the euro area sovereign debt markets.