Greek bailout: Eurogroup talks collapse – Press Conference now

Dijsselbloem: Disappointment over lack of common ground

Onto Greece. Dijsselbloem explains that the eurogroup didn’t get an agreement last Wednesday. Then he and Greek PM Tsipras agreed to start technical work on the bailout, and to examine how Greece could cover the 30% of their bailout programme which they want to abandon.

Today officials from the “institutions” reported back.... ministers had a slight sense of disappointment over the work, and that there was “no firm common ground” on what a new programme would look like.

Then, in today’s meeting.... the general feeling is that the best thing would be for the Greek authorities to seek an extension to its programme, says Dijsselbloem.

We simply need more time to examine Greece’s proposals, so an extension would give us the ability to do that work.

Updated at 6.27pm GMT

13m ago18:18

— Joseph Weisenthal (@TheStalwart)February 16, 2015

Dijsselbloem subtweeting Greece right now by praising Portugal's economy.

13m ago18:18

On Cyprus, the eurogroup “took stock” of its bailout programme; the main hurdle is the demand for new laws for foreclosures (to help banks act on bad loans), which Cyprus MPs are refusing to pass.

That law needs to be approved so that the programme can continue, Dijsselbloem says.

14m ago18:17

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem begins by covering other business from today’s meeting.

The eurogroup has decided to support Portugal’s plan to repay its IMF loans early, to take advantage of current low borrowing costs.

16m ago18:15

Reminder, there’s a live feed here.

16m ago18:14

Press conference begins

Here we go.... Dijsselbloem, Lagarde, Regling and Moscovici have arrived.