(BRUSSELS) - The financial crisis is succeeding in bringing Europe closer together on economic policy than nearly 10 years of monetary union.

The road to greater cooperation has been long and bumpy with member states up until only a few days ago each tackling the crisis by themselves in their corner with little regard for what their partners were doing.

The unprecedented summit of eurozone countries Sunday in Paris marks a new chapter with the announcement of a series coordinated measures to support the shell-shocked banking sector.

However, it remains to be seen if the new found cooperation will last.

In addition to the measures to save banks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that an EU summit on Wednesday and Thursday would look into setting up special "crisis structure" in order to avoid future problems.

The new body would include the European Union's rotating presidency, the European Commission and the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers and the European Central Bank.

The summit would also consider the sensitive issue of one day creating a European financial sector regulator, which member states have so far repeatedly shot down over fears of losing power to a centralised authority.

"Instead of breaking up Europe, this global crisis has reinforced the need for us to speak among ourselves, to understand each other, to make compromises," Sarkozy said.

"Never have I seen ... Europe governed with such intensity," said veteran summiteer and Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also Luxembourg's premier and finance minister.

He said the spirit of cooperation that emerged at the Paris summit was exactly the sort of thing that proponents of closer European integration on economic issues had urged for years.

Since the creation of the EU's single, unified market in 1993, progress has been slow on harmonising economic policies, with governments reluctant to give up authority for running their economies.

While EU rules require them to coordinate fiscal policy, it has often proved to be one of the most divisive issues among European countries, especially because decisions must be taken by unanimity.

The launch of the euro in 1999 marked a big step towards more integration, with the European Central Bank handling monetary policy.

However, a political void remains at the heart of the eurozone with member governments handling economic policy mainly along national lines.

Ironically, "if there is a historic significance" to the Paris summit "it's because it marked a big step forward for the European Union" rather than the eurozone, said analyst Nicolas Veron at Brussels think-tank Bruegel.

Even though Britain is not a member of the eurozone, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown attended the summit in order to compare notes with his euro counterparts.

Given the EU's economic interdependence, the 15 eurozone members need Britain's participation on such issues, Veron said.

"The Eurogroup's decisions should mark an important step in the European unification process," said analyst Jean-Dominique Giuliani at French think-tank Fondation Robert Schuman.

"Under pressure, Europe proves that it can form a unity of views, a joint application of economic and financial policy," he said.

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