On Friday afternoon Eurozone Finance Ministers will be assessing the technical agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding between the Institutions and the Greek authorities, which now requires political approval before being put into action.
The European Commission has since adopted the necessary draft Council decisions for a three-year programme under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and these documents were transmitted to the Council ahead of Friday’s meeting.
The Greek Parliament supported the draft terms for the third bailout in discussions that lasted through Thursday night and into Friday morning, which include far-reaching structural reforms and less strict fiscal rules.
An agreement on the new €85 billion three-year deal is needed by 20 August when Greece has a debt repayment of about €3.2 billion to make to the European Central Bank.
In reaction to the news of the initial agreement Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, commented: "For the first time an agreement is reached that represents more than an accounting exercise… Tsipras shows that he is committed to keep Greece in the Eurozone."
However, Greens/EFA President Philippe Lamberts was less optimistic, stating: “It is difficult to be enthusiastic about this agreement on Greece's latest rescue programme. It will prevent a Grexit for the time being but it is an unfair deal, which will condemn Greece to further recession.”
Ministers are anticipated to support the deal which will need parliamentary approval in the countries that require it early next week.