Divisions have deepened even as European officials played down hopes of a breakthrough at a meeting of EU finance ministers. Greece needs to raise over €53bn (£48bn) to meet its commitments on public spending.
Germany and allied northern states have shown reluctance for the creation of an EU fiscal union and denied reports from Brussels that the terms of a deal have been agreed.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble repeated his demand for countries that fail to clean up their finances to be thrown out of the eurozone. As the ministers met in Brussels to discuss a mechanism for bailing out Greece, he said the Stability and Growth Pact governing the single currency was not tough enough.
Schäuble's comments, and the proposed European Monetary Fund, were dismissed by his French counterpart Christine Lagarde. Criticising Germany's huge trade surplus with other eurozone states, she instead proposed "soft" rules to improve discipline in the eurozone.
Both France and Germany hope that Greece's control over its public finances will make a rescue package unnecessary. The recent comments, however, hint at fundamental long-term differences between the two countries on the economic management of the eurozone.
