London/Brussels  - The European Union's member states must work together more closely to overcome the economic crisis, the bloc's economic affairs commissioner said on Thursday, three days before an emergency EU summit.

"I really think that the degree of co-ordination could be seriously improved ... I haven't heard around the European table a discussion" on the best way to jump-start economic growth, Joaquin Almunia told the Thursday edition of the Financial Times.

On Sunday, EU leaders are set to hold an emergency summit on the financial crisis in Brussels. It is the second crisis meeting the bloc has held since November, and the fourth summit in a row to be dominated by the economic slump.

It comes as the EU is struggling to thaw out the market for inter-bank lending - still frozen, despite massive government bail-outs and loan guarantees since September.

"A broad consensus is now forming in Europe that we will need to move fast and introduce some form of asset relief to complement the measures already in place. Many countries are now looking seriously at the options on the table," Almunia told the European Economic Advisory Group think tank on Wednesday.

While member states are divided over whether to set up a so-called "bad bank" to buy up valueless assets or to create an insurance scheme, "all programmes should abide by a set of common principles" set out by the EU's executive, he said.

According to the invitation sent out by Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who is set to chair Sunday's summit as the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, the talks will focus on devalued assets, financial supervision and financial stability.

They will also urge member states to reject protectionism. That debate threatens to be stormy, following public spat between Prague and Paris which was sparked when French President Nicolas Sarkozy criticized French car makers who had set up factories in Central Europe. (dpa)