BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 23: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) sits at the Bundestag on April 23, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Germany is still at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and will have to live with it for a long time, the Chancellor said.

There's a lot at stake when European leaders host their fourth coronavirus call Thursday as they seek further funding to alleviate the economic shock from the pandemic.

Every EU country agrees that the region needs more than the 500 billion euro ($538 billion) package that their finance ministers put together earlier this month. However, there are deep political divisions on how to go about it.

The 27 EU members want a "Recovery Fund," but they have yet to figure out how to finance it, how big it should be, and what it should be made of.

"Where we need a great deal of work is on the recovery fund," an EU official, who didn't want to be named due to the sensitive nature of the talks, told CNBC Tuesday.

The heads of state will have an initial discussion on the matter, but they are not expected to reach a conclusion Thursday, two other European officials told CNBC Wednesday.

European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs discussions among the 27 leaders, has suggested that there should be a link between the recovery fund and the EU's next seven-year budget.

"I propose that we task the (European) Commission to analyse the exact needs and come up with a proposal that is commensurate with the challenge we are facing," Michel said in a letter to the 27 governments.

He added that it should be up to the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, to clarify the link between the recovery fund and the next EU budget, which "will in any event be at the heart of the EU's contribution to recovery and will need to be adjusted to deal with the current crisis and its aftermath."