Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis is heading to Brussels on Thursday for a very crucial Eurogroup meeting. Greece will emerge from this meeting knowing exactly where it stands and what it needs to do to exit the troika bailout at the end of the year as well have a more defined perspective as to what the post-bailout era will be like.

There is pressure on Greece to make commitments regarding its post-memorandum reforms. At the Eurogroup, Mr. Hardouvelis’ counterparts from the eurozone are expected to discuss a precautionary credit line for Greece to be implemented from the beginning of next year because Greece will need extra support in order to borrow from the international bond markets.

At noon on Wednesday, Mr. Hardouvelis said that creditors were aware of the Greek positions, however a European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s office sent a message to Athens shortly afterwards calling for Greece to clarify matters to be negotiated. The sooner Greece finalizes its positions, the more favorable the exit plan for Greece could be.

During an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Mr. Hardouvelis said that Greece will continue to have the support of the eurozone for an additional transitional period. “Greece will continue to have the support of the European partners. They may not be co-drivers in the car but they are safe in the back seat and you have a buffer in case something negative happens that you can draw on,” said Mr. Hardouvelis when speaking to Reuters. “We would like the IMF to be involved in the sense of giving confidence to the market that they are watching us a little bit. The exact IMF relationship is something that is under discussion. In our view, we would like the EU to have the upper hand on this.”