Finance ministers of the 16-nation eurozone will examine ways to strengthen economic policy co-ordination at a meeting today at which they are expected to reappoint Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, as their president.
If the most ambitious proposals aired in recent months were put into practice, the eurozone would move towards closer integration by agreeing to a single representation in the International Monetary Fund, issuing common euro bonds and holding occasional summits of the area's heads of government.
Officials in Paris say Christine Lagarde, France's finance minister, hoped to persuade Mr Juncker and Wolfgang Scha"uble, Germany's finance minister, to support the creation of a permanent secretariat for the eurozone - a long-standing French objective.
At present the area's finance ministers gather for informal meetings once a month on the eve of sessions of the European Union's 27 finance ministers. Under EU law, decisions on crucial issues such as taxation can be taken only at EU level.