BBC News - Greece bailout: Eurozone ministers set new conditions

Eurozone finance ministers have set out new conditions to a 130bn euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout for Greece.

Juncker: "We do not have all necessary elements on table to take decisions"

The ministers, meeting in Brussels, said the Greek parliament would now have to pass a package of cuts and reforms on Sunday.

In addition, Greek politicians will have to find an extra 325m euros ($432m; £273m) in savings for 2012.

Greek unions had already called a 48-hour strike, beginning on Friday, in opposition to the measures.

The chairman of the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, also said Greek leaders would have to give "strong political assurances" that they will continue to implement reforms after a general election due in April.

"Despite the important progress achieved over the last days, we did not yet have all necessary elements on the table to take decisions today," he said, referring to a plan agreed by Greece's fragile ruling coalition after days of talks.

"All these measures are important to ensure a smooth implementation of the programme also after the upcoming general elections.

"These three elements, those I mentioned, need to be in place before we can take decisions," Mr Juncker added.

He further welcomed "assurances provided by the Greek government that all the necessary elements will be put in place in the coming days," Reuters reports.

The conditions would need to be fulfilled before Eurozone finance ministers reconvene on Wednesday, he said.

Toughening mood

Eurozone countries were also "seriously considering" creating a new, separate account for Greece, which would block a portion of state revenues to guarantee the repayment of bailout loans, EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said.

A Franco-German proposal on budgetary discipline, with automatic penalties for eurozone nations that overspend, is "one possibility for reinforcing surveillance and effectively implementing the programme," he said.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that given the worsening state of the Greek economy, there is serious concern among European ministers that the overall plan for Greece - involving the new bailout as well as an agreement for private banks to write off a substantial chunk of Greek debt - still doesn't do enough to put the country on a sustainable economic path.

Greece is trying to negotiate the bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is the second such bailout, and lenders have insisted on more austerity measures in return for the loan.

The mood among Eurozone countries appears to be toughening on Greece, our correspondent says.

While the official view is still that Greece must be saved, he says there is more and more talk on the margins that a Greek default would not be a disaster.

The Greek government's latest austerity proposals have already prompted protests by unions

'Painful measures'

The plan agreed by the Greek government earlier this week includes 15,000 public-sector job cuts, liberalisation of labour laws, lowering the minimum wage by 22% from 751 euros per month to 600 euros and negotiating a debt write-off with banks.

But a key demand of the EU, IMF and European Central Bank was reform of the pension system, an issue that proved to be a stumbling block.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos tried to convince his coalition partners to overhaul pensions and save 300m euros a year.

Talks broke up without an agreement, but officials later announced that a compromise had been reached. It was not clear how the 300m euro saving would be made.

The government needs the backing of the eurozone ministers and the approval of the Greek parliament before the deal can be finalised.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, of the left-wing Pasok party, launched an attack on his conservative rival Antonis Samaras after attending the finance ministers' meeting in Brussels.

Mr Venizelos said his European counterparts "took into consideration that [Mr] Samaras has still not signed" a letter committing to spending cuts and reforms.

"The (conservative) party must decide - if they want to stay in the eurozone, they have to say so clearly," Mr Venizelos said, AFP reports.

Greece is already feeling the effects of an earlier round of austerity, put in place as part of a deal to release funds from a previous bailout.

Those cuts triggered widespread unrest and violent protests.

Greece is deep in recession with unemployment rising above 20%.

Unions have already said they will go out on strike over the latest austerity plans, condemning them as "painful measures" that would create misery.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed America's willingness to help stabilise the eurozone.

In a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, he also urged European countries to promote a strategy of growth.

Mr Juncker (left) and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos discussed the bailout