Even by the standards set since the outset of the global financial crisis, the month of March has been a busy one, packing the schedules of European Union finance ministers and heads of state with a long string of summit meetings.

The informal lunch meeting in Brussels on March 1 was criticised in many quarters for only confirming the split between member states in the West and the East of the bloc. Statements after the meeting of the Ecofin council of finance ministers from EU countries on March 9-10 did little to heal the rift.

"We refuse to accept that [Eastern European countries] represent one bloc – that has no longer applied since the fall of the Berlin Wall," Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, chairperson of Eurogroup, the 16 member states that are part of the eurozone, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"We adopted terms of reference given the current volatility of the situation. We thought it was not the right time to launch a fresh debate on accession criteria or launch a new interpretation of accession."

Juncker said that there would be no attempts to divide Europe into two parts, but the ERM2 rules were not up for discussion. "The credibility of monetary union is at stake," he said.

Mounting calls for relaxing the terms of the ERM2 mechanism, the two-year waiting room for the euro, were joined on March 10 by the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Thomas Mirow. Although there were clearly differences between EU member states in Eastern Europe, "the call for differentiation to some degree reduces the political momentum [to help]," he said, as quoted by Dow Jones Newswires.

Finance ministers met to discuss an array of issues, ranging from the EU budget to financing climate change initiatives to value-added tax cuts, but the top spot on its agenda was a key issues paper for the spring European Council, to be held on March 19-20.

The paper focused on restoring credit flows, improving the EU regulatory and supervisory framework to prevent future crises and promoting the EU’s active role in the reform of the global financial architecture, according to a stament posted on the website of the Czech presidency of the EU.

Econfin also adopted a report with integrated country-specific recommendations to member states regarding their economic and employment policies, specifically those needed to reach the goals set by the Lisbon Agenda for a knowledge-based economy.

The main topics of the spring European Council are the EU’s response to the economic and financial crisis, as well as climate change and energy. The council meeting, however,is unlikely to affect the bloc’s position ahead of the G20 group of developed economies meeting on April 2 in London.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers will meet on March 13-14 to prepare the ground for the London summit, but the EU has so far shown no signs it planned to follow US’ lead and spend more on stimulus measures. "We are not debating any additional measures," Germany’s finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said, quoted by Reuters. Juncker summarised the Eurogroup position saying that "we take the view that we don’t need to make a further effort for the moment."

As rifts persist on how to deal with the downturn, there is no sign of its end in sight. "We have seen a considerable deterioration in the economic situation since the February meeting and no ... indicator gives reason to believe the situation is turning around," Juncker said.