EU finance ministers are meeting Brussels to discuss ways to cut down on tax evasion as well as work out how to set up a single banking union for the eurozone.

UK Chancellor George Osborne will attend the talks, insisting that tougher measures are needed on tax havens and company tax transparency. In a letter to his fellow finance ministers Osborne says that it is essential the EU savings directive, which seeks to set up an automatic exchange of banking information between countries, is pushed forward as a means of creating a global standard on tax information.

The directive requires the unanimous approval of all 27 EU members, with Austria and Luxembourg, two nations famous for their banking secrecy, facing increased international pressure to sign up to the accords.

Ministers will also discuss the first steps to constructing a European banking union as part of their efforts to shore up the region's 8,00 banks and prevent a repeat of the debt and financial crisis that has crippled many members of the eurozone in recent years.

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner