EU leaders meeting in Brussels say distrust of the US over spying could harm the fight against terrorism.
Angela Merkel: "Once the seeds of mistrust have been sown it doesn't facilitate our co-operation... it makes it more difficult"
A statement agreed by the leaders says that "a lack of trust could prejudice" intelligence-gathering co-operation.
France and Germany are pushing for talks with the US to find a new "understanding" by the year's end.
A number of allegations against US intelligence agents have surfaced this week, including the bugging of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.
In addition there have been claims that the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitored millions of French telephone calls.
On Thursday, the UK's Guardian newspaper also reported that it had obtained a confidential memo from the NSA suggesting it had monitored the phones of 35 world leaders.
The latest revelations have been sourced to US whistleblower Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who fled the country earlier this year and is now in Russia.
They have overshadowed the EU summit in Brussels.
'Vital element'
The statement of heads of state or government, released on Friday, reflects the EU leaders' conclusions following their talks on Thursday.
It says the recent intelligence issues had raised "deep concerns" among European citizens.
The statement says the leaders "underlined the close relationship between Europe and the USA and the value of that partnership".
It continues: "[The leaders] stressed that intelligence-gathering is a vital element in the fight against terrorism."
And it went on: "A lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence-gathering."
Talks among the EU leaders continued late into Thursday night.
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Merkel said: "We need trust among allies and partners. Such trust now has to be built anew.
"The United States of America and Europe face common challenges. We are allies. But such an alliance can only be built on trust. That's why I repeat again: spying among friends, that cannot be."
Germany and France said they were proposing talks with the US to settle the row by the end of the year.
The leaders' statement said: "The heads of state or government took note of the intention of France and Germany to seek bilateral talks with the USA with the aim of finding before the end of the year an understanding on mutual relations in that field.
"They noted that other EU countries are welcome to join this initiative."
BBC Europe editor Gavin Hewitt says the French and Germans are looking for a new set of rules with a "no spying pact" at the core.
He says this would mirror an arrangement the United States has had with Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada since just after World War II. That secret intelligence-sharing operation is known as Five Eyes.
EU President Herman Van Rompuy accepted the UK had "a special relationship" with the US, but said Britain was "completely on board with this text".
UK PM David Cameron has yet to comment.
But a number of other leaders have indicated their support for the French and German position.
Finnish PM Jyrki Katainen said: "We have to talk together with the Americans, and try to find some sort of code of conduct [on] how to cooperate on this kind of issue in the future."
Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt said it was "completely unacceptable" to eavesdrop on the leader of an ally, a view echoed by Italian PM Enrico Letta, who added: "We want the truth."
But the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that, despite the widespread anger about American spying, Mrs Merkel opposed a suggestion to suspend trade talks with the United States - and on that point, the UK will be relieved.
Mrs Merkel had raised her concerns with US President Barack Obama in a call on Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney later said Mr Obama had assured Mrs Merkel that her phone was not being listened to now and would not be in the future.
However, his statement left open the question of whether calls had been listened to in the past.
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