Frankrijk en Duitsland komen met reddingsplan voor Griekenland (en)
France and Germany are set to pledge their solidarity with Greece on Thursday (11 February), in a sign to investors that the embattled Greek state will not be allowed to default on debt obligations.
Despite a detailed plan from Athens last month setting out spending cuts and revenue raising measures, market doubts over the health of Greek public finances have grown in recent weeks, weighing heavily on Greek stocks and causing bond yields to shoot up.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy i and German Chancellor Angela Merkel i are set to make the announcement at a joint press conference after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
The declaration is unlikely to contain many details however, after a video-conference of EU finance ministers on Wednesday failed to agree on the components of a rescue package.
Subsequent telephone calls between Paris and Berlin also failed to finalise a plan, with Germany reportedly sceptical about signing up to a Greek bailout without further assurances from Athens. Eurozone and EU finance minister meetings next week could be tasked with fleshing out details.
The initiative by leaders of Europe's two largest economies could merge into an EU-wide plan, said French sources close to Mr Sarkozy, reports Le Monde.
"The idea is that there be a strong Franco-Geman engagement, something which doesn't prevent a subsequent decision by the 27," said the source.
"The problem is that amongst the 27 there is also Greece, Portugal, Spain, which are currently being attacked. It would be odd if these countries financed a Greek rescue plan," the contact added.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou lunched in Paris with Mr Sarkozy on Wednesday. Before the meeting, Mr Sarkozy spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the Elysee presidential palace.
Among the options being considered to help Greece are bilateral loans, the creation of credit lines, or government guarantees to underwrite Greek bond issues, say diplomats.
French, German and EU officials repeatedly denied last month that a bailout was being considered.
Not to be outdone by the Franco-German initiative, the Visegrad group comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are also set to hold a pre-summit meeting.
Mr Sarkozy has previously questioned the purpose of the now regular reunions. A diplomat from one of the Visegrad countries said the meeting was called by the current chair, Hungary.
"There are plenty of top level meetings in various formats before each summit. There is no rule against it," the diplomat told EUobserver.
Initially scheduled to take place at 10.00am local time, Thursday's EU summit, which will take place in an old library in a central Brussels park, has been set back two hours by EU permanent president Herman Van Rompuy due to a snowfall.
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