Europe's spotlight has been shining intensely on Greece over the last few weeks. Although last week's $6.8 billion 10-year bond offering appears to have eased some worries about the country's debt, its economic picture remains cloudy and some concerns persist.

Greece's precarious situation has caused a ripple effect in the currency markets and convinced many investors to avoid Europe. The EAFE index a popular international benchmark of companies in Asia, Australia and Europe is down 3.1% this year. IShares S&P Europe 350 ETF (IEV) is down around 5%. By comparison, the Vanguard S&P 500 fund (VFINX) is up just over a percentage point this year.

Since so much attention is focused on Europe, we felt it was a good time to check in on the funds concentrated on that region. Morningstar tracks 123 funds in its Europe Stock category. We narrowed that universe by looking for funds that had above-average track records during the trailing three- and five-year time periods, low fees and expenses and were open to new investors. We were left with seven funds -- they're listed on the table below.

At the moment, we aren't putting our stamp of approval on any of these offerings. Greece was very crafty about hiding its financial bottom line with some help from Goldman Sachs (GS) . Until there is more transparency on the situation and Greece cuts its debt Europe may still come under pressure. That isn't a great investing environment for mainstream investors. And remember: If your portfolio includes an international index based on the EAFE, it already has a 50% exposure to this area. That is plenty, even for bargain hunters.

And a mutual fund may not be the best vehicle for investing in a tricky market environment like the one Europe is experiencing. If investors want to get in and out, an ETF will offer better trading flexibility. IShares offers several products based on Europe and individual countries there. Again, most mainstream investors can avoid these.

When the picture in Europe clears, there are two funds to keep an eye on. The Vanguard European Stock index fund (VEURX) charges a cheap 0.27% annual expense ratio. The fund owns 479 companies spread out around the continent, but primarily in the U.K., France, German and Switzerland. It could be a happy medium between an actively run fund and the more diversified EAFE index product. T. Rowe Price Europe Stock (PRESX) is in the top third of its Lipper category over the trailing three- and five-year time periods.

The Criteria: The funds on our list are part of Morningstar's Europe Stock category. They are open to new money, require a minimum investment under $5,000 and charge an annual expense ratio less than 1.5%. In addition, they have track records during the trailing three- and five-year periods that put them in the top half of that category. As usual, we did not include funds that charged a sales load.