Greece to present case for less austerity to EU today

Greece's anti-austerity government is presenting its proposals for dealing with its debt at an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels tonight.

The government wants to overhaul 30 per cent of its bailout obligations and get a bridging loan to carry it through until June when it hopes to have a full deal from the EU on reforms.

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EU ministers have warned that Greece must abide by its existing austerity terms, with Germany, one of Europe’s wealthiest countries, taking a particularly hard line.

Today Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers, downplayed expectations of a debt deal out of the meeting.

"We will listen to the plans of the Greek government," he said, adding "we will look how we can deal with this over the coming days."

There is unlikely to be a deal tonight and EU officials have said there may be weeks of talks ahead.

On the eve of the meeting, newly elected Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said there is "no way back" for his government in its quest to rewrite its bailout terms.

He has said Greece will not extend its bailout deal, which expires Feb. 28, because it rejects the harsh terms that have led to job losses and public service cuts in the country.

Markets react with fear

Greece's finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is unveiling a four-year plan that would reduce the economic burden of the country's debts and allow its economy to recover.

He took that same message to European leaders on a road tour last week, without receiving much of a warm reception.

Ahead of the meeting, the Greek stock market was down by four per cent.

Most of Europe’s stock indexes have fallen today on uncertainty over Greece.

The real worry is that the EU will not negotiate and Greece will be forced out of the eurozone, leading to months of uncertainty.

But Greece is getting support from the streets, with protesters in Athens supporting the anti-austerity agenda, and sympathy protests in London and other cities.