As eurozone heads of state prepare for a summit on Thursday (21 July) to put together a second bailout package for debt-laden Greece, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wanted clear commitments from private investors that they would contribute to further funding.
Late on Friday (15 July), the services of European Council President Herman van Rompuy issued a short statement announcing that a summit of the euro zone would be held on 21 July in Brussels.
Starting at midday, the summit agenda "will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek programme".
21 July is Belgium's National Day, and the local press predicts that Brussels police will be severely tested by having to handle in parallel two events of such magnitude.
The announcement went some way to defuse uncertainty over the EU's readiness to act to prevent contagion from the Greek crisis from spreading to Italy ...
