The European Union will look at "all options" to support and help the Syrian opposition coalition, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Speaking to reporters Friday in Brussels following a two-day end-of-the-year summit of EU leaders, Van Rompuy stressed the need for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
"Appalled by the increasingly deteriorating situation » iu Syria, EU leaders asked their Foreign Ministers to look "at all options to support and help the opposition and to enable the greater support for the protection of civilians", he said.
In their summit conclusions, which are viewed as the EU strongest statement of support for the Syrian opposition since the uprising began more than 20 months ago, EU leaders instructed their Foreign Ministers to assess "all possibilities" to increase the pressure on Assad.
They repeated their view that "political transition is necessary in Syria towards a future without President Assad and his illegitime regime."
"We support a future that is democratic and inclusive with full support for Human Rights and the rights of minorities," EU leaders said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron advocated an early review of the arms embargo against Syria to potentially open the way to supply equipment to the rebels in the coming months, but Germany and several other countries were more reluctant on this issue.
"I want a very clear message to go to President Assad that nothing is off the table," Cameron told reporters at the end of the EU summit.
Earlier this week, EU Foreign Ministers met with the new Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib in Brussels.
France said it was not ready to supply weapons to Syrian oppositon and would be studying the role of an Islamist rebel group within the Syrian opposition branded a terrorist organization by the United States.
"For now we have decided not to move on this," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We shall see in the coming months."
Western powers and Arab nations have recognized Syria's new opposition coalition, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people at talks in Marrakech, Morocco, this week.
But Western powers are reticent about sending weapons because they believe that some rebel groups, notably the al-Nusra Front, have links to al Qaeda and will seek to impose Islamic law if they succeed in toppling Assad.
Besides Syria, the conclusions of the EU summit didn’t mention the Israeli-Palestinian issue days after EU Foreign Ministers condemned Israel for its plan to build more homes in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim.
Friday's summit marked the end of the EU Cyprus presidency. Ireland, a country which is not among Israel's best friends in Europe, will take over the six-month rotating chairmanship on January 1. It will be followed in July by Lithuania.