Finance ministers from European Union (EU) countries will discuss on how to improve economic coordination in the 27-nation bloc when they are due to meet in Madrid on Friday.

However, the informal talks are expected to be overshadowed by the Greek debt crisis.

On the eve of the finance ministers' meeting, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU would send a mission to Greece next Monday to discuss further details of a 30-billion-euro (41-billion-dollar) rescue mechanism agreed by eurozone finance ministers last weekend for the debt-ridden country.

The Greek Finance Ministry on Thursday sent a letter to the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), asking for such talks on a "multi-year program of economic policies."

The move was seen as a step toward appealing for financial assistance, although Athens insisted it was not actually activating the standby mechanism.

Eurozone finance ministers Sunday hammered out details of a joint rescue mechanism with IMF for Greece, pledging 30 billion euros (40.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the first year to bail out Greece if necessary.

Initially, the markets gave a cautious approval, but the borrowing costs of the Greek government rebounded due to continuing uncertainties over the effectiveness and readiness of the rescue mechanism.
Germany, the largest contributor to any possible rescue, showed its reluctance by saying the mechanism should be activated by EU leaders and any payment by Germany should be approved by the parliament. These conditions would lead to months of decision-making before Greece can get the emergency funding.

Analysts also warned that the 30-billion-euro package may reduce near-term risks of a debt default by the Greek government, but serious concerns over longer-term problems remain unresolved.

Athens needs to raise 11.6 billion euros (15.8 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of May to cover maturing debt, part of about 54 billion euros (73.3 billion U.S. dollars) needed for the whole year. In the long run, Greece faces a public debt of around 300 billion euros (410 billion U.S. dollars), ten times the amount of financial support that eurozone countries have pledged.

Although eurozone countries said they were ready to contribute more after the first year, they fell short of giving any concrete figure, leaving future support in doubt. So far, the IMF has not put any exact amount of loans on the table.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said he would push for "methodical negotiation" on the further details of the rescue mechanism at the informal talks of EU finance ministers.

The Greek debt crisis exposed serious drawbacks of the eurozone, building a strong case for more economic coordination in the region and also in the whole EU.

The EU's Spanish presidency said the finance ministers would look at ways to improve the economic coordination of the EU at their informal talks, a way to prevent the recurrence of the Greek debt crisis.

"It is essential to progress coordinating national economic policies in order to consolidate economic recovery and lay the foundations of a more sustainable economic model, with better regulation and financial supervision," it said.

On Friday morning, eurozone finance ministers will open the three-day informal talks. They will be joined by all other EU finance ministers later in the day.
"The aim is to identify areas where the coordination of policies and budget monitoring of the member states can be improved and to propose methods for keeping in check any differences in competitiveness and imbalances in the balance of payments in the euro area," the Spanish presidency said.

Rehn on Thursday stressed the need for the EU to reinforce economic coordination to tackle future economic challenges.

"The latest developments in the European economy, not least in and around Greece, have shown that there is a pressing and urgent need to strengthen economic policy coordination," Rehn told a meeting organized by the European Policy Center, a think-tank in Brussels.

He said in enhancing economic policy coordination, there are three main "building blocks" -- reinforcing the EU's budgetary rules, deepening and broadening economic surveillance, and setting up a permanent crisis resolution mechanism.

In particular, Rehn called for stricter implementation of the EU's budgetary rules, a key lesson drawn from the Greek debt crisis.

"We need to sharpen our teeth," he said. "We need to think of ways of addressing cases of recidivists, who continuously break the rules."