EU Leaders Fail to Solve Greek Debt Issue at Summit, New Meeting to Follow

The Tuesday extraordinary Eurozone summit on the Greek issue ended with a number of surprises: Athens failed to present a detailed plan on the country’s economic recovery and the European Commission indicated it has an action plan in case of Greece's exit from the Eurozone.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The Eurozone leaders have set the deadline for Greece to present its economic proposals for Friday morning. A new extraordinary summit on the Greek issue has been scheduled for Sunday.

Greece is one of the countries hit worst by the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The country’s overall debt stands at about $350 billion, of which $270 billion is owed to the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and some eurozone countries.

On Sunday, more than 61 percent of Greeks voted "No" to the lender-proposed bailout deal, comprising a set of austerity measures, including pension cuts and tax increases, in exchange for a new financial aid package for the country.

Yet Another Extraordinary Summit

European leaders are due to meet again on Sunday to discuss the Greek financial crisis. The new summit is expected to be focused on the discussion of the possibilities to resume talks with Greece on a new European Stability Mechanism (ESM) lending program.

Following Tuesday's summit, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said that the EC has a detailed plan of actions in case of Greece's exit from the Eurozone.

"We have a Grexit scenario prepared in detail," Juncker told reporters.

He added that he himself is against Greece leaving the Eurozone but will not be able to prevent it if the Greek government fails to fulfill its obligations, and namely – to present proposals on the country’s economic program on time.

French President Francois Hollande has warned that the possible Grexit will not come at no cost to the other Eurozone economies.

He added, however, that the agreement between Athens and its international creditors is still possible.

Greece's Proposals

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Tuesday that his country has put forward proposals aimed at reaching a socially just agreement with lenders in exchange for the European Union taking upon itself obligations on debt restructuring and investing in Greek economy.

According to the Greek Prime Minister, the agreement between Greece and its lenders should include "obligations for the other side [the EU] to cover financial needs of the country in a medium-term perspective, a package of investments to fight the big problem of unemployment and the resumption of much-needed debt restructuring."

Doubts Remain

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists after the summit that currently there is no certainty on whether Greece will fulfill all demands by Eurozone.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed hope that the Sunday EU leaders summit puts an end to the crisis.

"I hope and really want for it all to be over on Sunday, so that we would put an end to this situation of uncertainty that did not promise anything good, especially not for the Greek people," Rajoy said.

According to an EU diplomatic source, there has been no discussion Tuesday on the volume of the new loan that Greece might get under the ESM lending program.