The Eurogroup is meeting on Monday in talks almost entirely dedicated to Greece. The government rushed in a race against time to tie up loose ends ahead of the meeting that will explore whether Greece has adopted enough measures needed to get hold of the €2bn second sub-tranche of the bailout program. Meetings between Greek officials and representatives of Greece’s international creditors (EU partners and IMF) as well as discussions with the Euro Working Group (EWG) on Saturday and Sunday were fraught with differences and no deal was struck ahead of the Eurogroup.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is in Brussels for the Eurogroup meeting without much negotiation leverage and reserved optimism. It is unlikely that funds will be released, however the Eurogruop will discuss the next steps for Greece. These include the conclusion of the revuew scheduled for late November but more likely to take place around the turn of the year. It is only once the review is completed that Greece can hope for subsequent discussion on debt relief and hope for Greek bank recapitalization.

The so-called quartet of Greece’s creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism, International Monetary Fund) are due to return to Greece on Wednesday to discuss thorny issues such as foreclosures of first homes and the debt settlement in 100 installments. The European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are keeping a harsh line as well as northern EU countries that point to Greece’s pledges that have yet to be met.

Behind-the-scenes talks are taking place continuously and are expected to run through to the eleventh hour of the Eurogroup meeting.

Eurogroup arrivals (watch live at 1.30 p.m. CET):

Eurogroup press conference (watch live at 6.30 p.m. CET):