Europe seen mixed as Greece tension grows

European equities are expected to open to choppy trade on Tuesday following tense talks between Greece and the Eurogroup of finance ministers about Greek reform proposals.

Greece and experts from the troika of organizations that oversee the country's bailout – the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – will start detailed discussions on Greek reforms tied to its emergency financing on Wednesday, the head of the Eurogroup said, according to a Reuters report.

"We've talked about this long enough now," Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said impatiently in Brussls on Monday following a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers at which Greece's reform proposals and funding needs were discussed.

Referring to the four-month extension to Greece's bailout program, in which it must reform in order to receive more aid, Dijsselbloem said "We only have four months…Let's get it done." He also proposed the possibility of Greece receiving smaller chunks of funding as it makes reforms.

Meanwhile in Asia, key bourses fell as markets overlooked better-than-expected Chinese inflation data and a positive lead from Wall Street. The consumer price index (CPI) in China rose 1.4 percent on year, beating expectations of a 0.9 percent rise predicted in a Reuters poll.

In business news, investors will watch the share prices of Credit Suisse and Prudential Tuesday after an unnamed source told Reuters that Brady Dougan could step down as chief executive of Swiss bank Credit Suisse as soon as Tuesday. Also citing an unnamed source, the Financial Times reported that Tidjane Thiam, who heads insurance group Prudential, could replace Dougan.

In other news, Italy is in technical discussions with the European Commission over its plans to form a vehicle to help its banks offload soured loans, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said late on Monday, Reuters reported.

In data releases Tuesday, France and Italy publish industrial production data and Ireland's gross domestic product growth rate is reported. RWE reports earnings.