Euro zone finance ministers signaled their impatience with Athens over the weekend. Greece has failed to make the budget cuts and structural reforms as a condition of their bailout.
Greek PM George Papandreaou is set to hold discussions with euro zone officials and the International Monetary Fund to break the impasse.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks lost 2.59 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was down 1.97 percent at last check.
Unofficially, the German DAX dropped 2.83 percent and the French CAC 40 lost 3 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 1.94 percent and Switzerland's SMI dropped 1.69 percent.
Merck was down fractionally. The drugmaker said it has acquired worldwide exclusive rights to PI-2301, an experimental drug for multiple sclerosis, previously developed by US-based research-stage biotechnology company Peptimmune Inc.
ThyssenKrupp slipped 3.8 percent. Salzgitter lost 5.6 percent. Credit Suisse cut its price targets on both stocks. HeidelbergCement dropped 2.5 percent after HSBC cut its price target on the stock to 31 euros from 60 euros.
Kloeckner & Co declined 6.6 percent. Credit Suisse reduced its price target on the stock.
Aixtron fell 1.9 percent. HSBC lowered its rating on the stock to "Neutral" from "Overweight" and reduced its price target. Goldman Sachs also cut its price target on the stock.
SMA Solar plunged 12.7 percent. Unicredit cut the stock to "Sell" from "Hold" and lowered the price target to 48 euros from 75 euros.
In Paris, Michelin slipped 5.6 percent. Morgan Stanley cut the stock to "Underweight" from "Overweight" and reduced the price target to 50 euros from 74 euros.
Tim Tookey, the Finance Director of Lloyds Banking Group Plc has decided to leave the British banking group to join as Chief Financial Officer of Friends Life Group Plc, the UK Life project of insurer Resolution Ltd. Lloyds shares were down 6.7 percent.
Temenos Group AG dropped after Morgan Stanley downgraded the banking-software maker to "equal weight" from "overweight." For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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