The meeting of the Eurogroup finance ministers ended on Monday evening without any agreement being reached on Greece's debt. Athens now has until Friday to consider its position. That is then the limit of what is possible, said Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
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After the deliberations of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Brussels, Federal Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that the pivotal issue is for Greece to decide whether or not it wants the programme.
The current programme will expire on 28 February. Greece has not yet applied for an extension.
In response to all the speculations Wolfgang Schäuble stated clearly, "What we need is not primarily a request from Greece to extend the programme. The crucial point is that Greece must make a clear, credible and feasible commitment to meeting the terms of the programme - if not by the end of February then within a timescale we can talk about."
Wolfgang Schäuble pointed out that the Eurogroup already extended the programme in December in response to a request lodged by Greece. "Extending the programme only makes any sense if Greece intends to comply with the terms," he added.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem indicated that he would in principle be willing to convene another meeting if Greece were to apply for an extension. "We can make use of this week, but that is all the time we have," he said after negotiations collapsed.
Greece owes EU partner states and institutions a total of about 220 billion euros.