Euro zone finance ministers including Michael Noonan travel to Brussels on Friday for an emergency meeting amid mounting uncertainty about the status of Greece's application for a loan extension.
With Greece’s bailout due to expire at the end of next week, Athens submitted a formal request for a six-month loan extension on Thursday, but this was rejected by Berlin within hours. A German finance ministry spokesman said it was “not a substantial proposal for a solution”.
Greece faces an uphill battle to secure support for its extension request when all 19 euro zone finance ministers, the eurogroup, meet on Friday.
Slovakia became the latest country to voice concerns about concessions to Greece, with prime minister Robert Fico saying he was "calm" about the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro.
Slovakia is one of several euro zone countries that may have to secure the backing of its national parliaments for a new Greek package, depending on the nature of the loan extension.
In a sign of a possible thawing of relations between Berlin and Athens, however, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and German chancellor Angela Merkel are understood to have spoke by phone.
Day of confusion
The emergency meeting follows a day of confusion during which the
European Commission
and the eurogroup appeared to be at odds.
Just minutes before a Germany finance ministry spokesman appeared to rule out Berlin's support for the deal, a spokesman for commission president Jean- Claude Juncker said Mr Juncker saw the letter as "a positive sign, which in his assessment could pave the way for reasonable compromise in the interest of the financial stability in the euro area as whole".
The two-page letter signed by Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, and submitted to eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Mr Juncker, requests a six-month extension of the loan agreement, after which "a new contract for recovery and growth" between Greece and Europe and the IMF can be agreed.
Fiscal targets
“The Greek authorities honour Greece’s financial obligations to all its creditors,” the letter states, pledging to agree “mutually acceptable financial and administrative terms” that will “stabilise Greece’s fiscal position, attain appropriate primary fiscal surpluses, guarantee debt sustainability and assist in fiscal targets for 2015 that take into account the current economic situation”.
It is understood Mr Juncker had been liaising between Berlin and Athens before Dr Merkel’s phone call with Mr Tsipras.
Any agreement on Greece needs the agreement of all 19 euro zone finance ministers, with Spain, Slovakia and Finland understood to be among those taking a tough line on Athens. Domestic concerns are weighing on the governments of a number of states, including Spain which has seen a strong rise in support for left-wing party Podemos.
The Greek parliament is on Friday scheduled to vote on a measures that would mean a reversal of some of the labour market reforms implemented under the bailout. Any decision to reverse austerity measures is likely to receive a cool reception from Germany and other creditors.
