Media caption PM Alexis Tsipras says Greece ''needs an agenda for growth'' 
 
 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has promised his government will submit "credible reform" proposals to its creditors on Thursday. 
 
 Mr Tsipras was speaking during a fractious debate on the Greek debt crisis in the European Parliament. 
 
 Greece is desperate for a third bailout to avoid bankruptcy and possibly crashing out of the euro currency. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Greek government has insisted that there is no threat to food and fuel supplies. 
 
 In a statement, the Ministry of Economy, Infrastructures, Maritime Affairs and Tourism "reassures both the Greek citizens and the visitors (tourists) that there are adequate food supplies in the market and that their prices remain stable". 
 
 Hewitt: The final showdown 
 
 Lavish lifestyles on hold in Athens 'Yes' neighbourhood 
 
 European media exasperated 
 
 Wednesday - as it happened 
 
 European leaders have set Thursday as the deadline for serious reform plans from Greece in exchange for more aid. 
 
 An emergency summit involving all 28 European Union members - not just the 19 eurozone countries - will take place on Sunday. 
 
 Greece would "file new concrete proposals, credible reforms, for a fair and viable solution," Mr Tsipras told MEPs. 
 
 Earlier, he urged Europe not to succumb to "division". 
 
 Mixed reception 
 
 The left-wing leader was greeted by both boos and cheers as he entered the European Parliament, where he criticised previous bailouts for turning Greece into an "austerity laboratory". 
 
 Media caption Cheers and boos at the European Parliament 
 
 Mr Tsipras was speaking only days after the Greek people decisively rejected the latest proposals from creditors in a referendum. 
 
 The Greek people "stood up and were counted - we have to listen to what they said." 
 
 Greece's failure to come up with new proposals at a eurozone summit on Tuesday angered several European leaders, and some of that frustration was reflected in the European Parliament debate. 
 
 German MEP Manfred Weber accused Mr Tsipras of insulting other European leaders. 
 
 "The extremists of Europe are applauding you," he said, referring to support from both left and right in parliament. 
 
 However, some MEPs displayed placards saying "No", praising the result of the Greek referendum. 
 
 Greek scenarios 
 
 Greece's creditors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - have already provided more than €200bn in two bailouts since a rescue plan began five years ago. 
 
 Greece has meanwhile formally asked the European bailout facility - the European Stability Mechanism - for help. 
 
 Sources say Athens is requesting a fresh three-year loan in exchange for reforms. 
 
 In addition, the ECB's governing council met and decided to leave its support for the banks at its current level pending a resolution of the Greek debt crisis. 
 
 At the scene: Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Strasbourg 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Some MEPs displayed placards in sympathy with the Greek people 
 
 When Alexis Tsipras talked, there were plenty of MEPs who listened and liked. 
 
 Beaming left-wingers queued up afterwards to shake his hand. The far-right saw much in his words that echoed their own anti-Brussels agenda. For UKIP, Nigel Farage said the Greeks were a brave people, and advised their prime minister to seize the nettle and lead them out of the single currency. 
 
 Of course, most Euro-deputies represent the mainstream and so took a more critical line. The conservative, socialist and liberal groups have little trust in Mr Tsipras and his promises for change. Like the European Commission, they sense that the Greeks are still playing for time, with no real intention of offering concessions. 
 
 One widely held view is that Mr Tsipras has always intended to leave the euro, but wants to get kicked out rather than leave of his own volition. That way it's Brussels - and Berlin - which get the blame. 
 
 In an address in Washington on Wednesday, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde reiterated that debt restructuring alongside a programme of reforms was the only way forward for the stricken Greek economy. 
 
 "Greece is in a situation of acute crisis, which needs to be addressed seriously and promptly," she said. 
 
 Crisis countdown 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Greek pensioners have struggled to receive payments 
 
 Thursday 9 July: deadline for Greece to submit proposals 
 
 Saturday 11 July: eurozone finance ministers meet 
 
 Sunday 12 July: all 28 members of the European Union meet to decide Greece's fate 
 
 Monday 20 July: €3bn payment due from Greece to the European Central Bank 
 
 Greece's banks have been shut since its last international bailout programme expired on June 30th and it missed an IMF payment. 
 
 Capital controls mean people are unable to withdraw more than €60 (£43; $66) a day from cash machines. 
 
 What happens next? ||||| Eurozone leaders set Greece a Sunday deadline to come up with new economic measures to avoid a potential euro exit. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged to make “concrete proposals” in the next few days aimed at bridging an impasse with international creditors. Photo: AP 
 
 BRUSSELS—Greece took a first step toward addressing demands that eurozone leaders say it must meet to stay in the euro, as pressure grew on both sides to reach a deal and avert the country’s imminent financial meltdown. 
 
 The government in Athens formally asked for a three-year bailout from the eurozone’s rescue fund on Wednesday and pledged to start implementing some economic-policy overhauls by early next week, according to a copy of the request seen by The Wall Street Journal. 
 
 ... ||||| STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Greece submitted a request for aid from Europe's bailout fund Wednesday, and is rushing to detail a plan of economic reforms that creditors want to see this week if they are to save the country from financial collapse and keep it in Europe's joint currency. 
 
 Men sit at a coffee shop in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras... (Associated Press) 
 
 People are seen reflected at a glass of a bank as they line up to withdraw cash from a bank machine in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up to withdraw cash from a bank machine in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the Greek Prime... (Associated Press) 
 
 People stand in a queue to use the ATMs of a bank in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Greece is scrambling to develop a detailed proposal to move away from the brink of financial collapse. Underscoring... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up at the main gate of the national bank of Greece as they wait to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Greece is scrambling... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up to withdraw cash from a bank machine in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the Greek Prime... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man smokes as he sits at the main entrance of a fish market in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man reads a newspapers in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Greece is scrambling to develop a detailed proposal to move away from the brink of financial collapse. Underscoring the gravity... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras gestures as he leaves the building after an emergency summit of eurozone heads of state or government in Brussels on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Frustrated and angered eurozone... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up at the main gate of the national bank of Greece as they wait to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Greece is scrambling... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man waits for public transportation sitting at a bus station in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up at the main gate of the national bank of Greece as they wait to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Greece is scrambling... (Associated Press) 
 
 A shopkeeper counts money at his store in central Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Frustrated and angry eurozone leaders fearing for the future of their common currency gave the Greek Prime Minister Alexis... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras earned both cheers and jeers as he addressed lawmakers at the European Parliament, where he said his country is seeking a deal that might bring a definitive end to his country's financial crisis, not just a temporary stop-gap. 
 
 "We need to ensure the medium-term funding of our country with a development and growth program," Tsipras told the lawmakers gathered in Strasbourg, France. 
 
 Greece on Wednesday morning submitted a written request for a new support program from Europe's bailout fund, according to Michel Reijns, the spokesman for the eurozone's top official, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. 
 
 Greece needs to back that up by presenting by the end of Thursday a detailed, cost-assessed plan on the economic measures it would take in exchange for loans. So far, Greece has only produced an outline of the measures. 
 
 European leaders will hold a summit on Sunday to decide whether the plan is good enough. 
 
 Applause rose from leftist quarters in the EU Parliament when Tsipras said aid to Greece only helped out banks, not ordinary Greeks. A few called for compromise. 
 
 The head of a conservative group in the Parliament, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt, said he was "furious" at Tsipras' failure to spell out specifics of his reform plans. 
 
 The leader of Britain's nationalist UKIP, Nigel Farage, told Tsipras: "Your country ... should have never joined the euro" and urged him to quit the common currency. Britain is not part of the euro. 
 
 Tsipras insisted last Sunday's referendum result, in which voters soundly rejected a previous creditors' reform proposal, does not mean a break with Europe. 
 
 In Greece, meanwhile, people were struggling with an eighth day of limits on money withdrawals. They cannot take out more than 60 euros ($67) a day from TMS, are unable to send money abroad or pay supplies or bills without special permission. The banks remain shut. 
 
 In his speech to the European Parliament, Tsipras aid Greece's troubles date to long before he took office five months ago 
 
 He described Greece as having been used as an "austerity experiment" for the last five years of bailout reforms imposed on the country that led to spiraling unemployment and poverty, and a contraction of the economy by a quarter. 
 
 The experiment, he said had clearly failed. 
 
 "We demand an agreement with our neighbors, but one that gives us a sign that we are on a long-lasting basis exiting from the crisis — which will demonstrate to us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. An agreement which will bring about the credible and necessary reforms," he said. 
 
 Tsipras vowed to continue reforms already undertaken. 
 
 "But let us not forget that in the last five years, the Greek people have made a tremendous effort for adjustment — a very difficult and hard process of adjustment. This has exhausted the patience and resilience of the Greek people." 
 
 The Greek crisis has frayed the nerves of other European leaders, who have accused the Greek government, elected in January on promises to repeal austerity, of foot-dragging and exacerbating the situation. 
 
 Highlighting the rising anger with Tsipras, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had a stark warning for Greece after Tuesday's eurozone summit. 
 
 "We have a Grexit scenario, prepared in detail," he said, apparently referring to the situation in which Greece would be forced out of the currency union. 
 
 Greece's eurozone partners have steadfastly said they want to help Greece stay in the currency club but have just as often complained about Greece dragging its feet during months of negotiations. 
 
 One big sticking point in the talks is Greece's demand that the terms of its bailout loans be made easier. 
 
 European officials are split on the issue, with lead eurozone lender Germany still reluctant. The International Monetary Fund called last week for European states to accept longer repayment periods and lower interest rates on their loans to Greece. Many economists say that Greece's debt burden, at almost 180 percent of annual GDP, is unsustainable for a country its size. 
 
 Greece has been granted two bailout programs worth a total of 240 billion euros ($266 billion) in loans from other eurozone countries and the IMF. But the spending cuts and tax increases demanded as a condition for the loans have hit growth, sending the country into a six-year recession and pushing unemployment to 25 percent. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Jamey Keaten in Paris, Michael Corder, Raf Casert and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Brussels contributed to this report. ||||| BRUSSELS Euro zone members have given Greece until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin. 
 
 "The stark reality is that we have only five days left ... Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines, but tonight I have to say loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week," European Council President Donald Tusk told a news conference. 
 
 Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Friday to present the proposal, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hoped to have convincing reform commitments from Tsipras on Thursday so she could ask the German parliament to authorize negotiations on a new aid program. 
 
 Merkel said she was "not exaggeratedly optimistic" for a solution. 
 
 At an emergency summit in Brussels on Tuesday, representatives of the 19-country euro zone said all 28 European Union leaders would meet on Sunday to decide Greece's fate. The talks were organized after Greeks voted in a referendum on Sunday against a bailout that carried stringent austerity measures. 
 
 French President Francois Hollande said the European Central Bank would ensure that Greek banks had the minimum necessary liquidity to stay afloat until Sunday. 
 
 The situation in Greece worsened with banks closed for a second week, limited cash withdrawals and businesses feeling the crunch of demands from vendors for cash payments. 
 
 Tsipras sounded upbeat as he left the summit, even though many of the reforms demanded by his partners would inflict more pain on Greeks who voted at his behest to reject the austerity measures in return for financial aid. 
 
 "The discussion took place in a positive climate," he said. "The process will be extremely fast. It starts in the coming hours, with the aim to conclude by the end of the week at the latest." 
 
 He promised to work for a socially just deal that would bring a "final exit" from the crisis, return Greece to growth and restructure Greek debt to make it viable. 
 
 Failure, Tusk warned, would undermine the EU's standing in the world and said the six-decade-old bloc may face "the most critical moment in our history". 
 
 STRICT TIMETABLE LAID OUT 
 
 Under a timetable agreed by the 19 leaders of the common currency area, Greece will submit on Wednesday a formal request for a two-year loan program, with a first list of reform commitments to be spelled out in greater detail on Thursday. 
 
 If the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank approve, Eurogroup finance ministers will meet on Saturday to recommend opening negotiations on a conditional assistance program. 
 
 "The ball is in Greece's court," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, calling Sunday "the final meeting on Greece". 
 
 He said positions had hardened since previous bailout talks collapsed in late June, when Tsipras called a referendum at short notice to defy Greece's creditors. 
 
 Merkel said if Athens came up with satisfactory proposals and took "prior actions" by passing laws to convince creditors of its intent, short-term financing could be made available to help Greece over a repayment hump this summer. 
 
 She did not rule out rescheduling Greek debt in the longer run by extending loan maturities, lowering interest rates and allowing a longer moratorium on debt service payments, but she said a "haircut", or writedown, was impossible because it would be illegal. 
 
 Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann warned that if there were no deal on Sunday, euro zone governments would have to prepare "Plan B," code for Greece losing all access to euros and finding itself excluded from the currency bloc. 
 
 Even EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker, who has worked tirelessly to keep Greece in the euro, said he now had detailed plans to cope with a "Grexit" if Tsipras failed to deliver. 
 
 People familiar with Greece's financial system said the banks could start running out of money within two days unless they received more liquidity. 
 
 BRIDGE FINANCING 
 
 Euro zone sources said bridge financing could be provided by "Greece's friends" and by releasing past ECB profits on Greek bonds to prevent Athens from missing a crucial 3.5 billion euro bond redemption to the ECB due on July 20. 
 
 Some of Athens' 18 partners in Europe's common currency expressed exasperation at five years of crisis wrangling with Greece. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite complained, "With the Greek government it is every time manana." 
 
 Merkel, under pressure in Germany to cut Greece loose, made clear it was up to Tsipras to present convincing proposals after Athens spurned tax rises, spending cuts and pension and labor reforms that were on the table before its 240 billion euro (US$262.7 billion) bailout expired last week. 
 
 As of Tuesday night, she said, the conditions for opening new aid negotiations with Greece still had not been met. 
 
 Euro zone finance ministers complained that their new Greek colleague Euclid Tsakalotos, while more courteous than his abrasive predecessor Yanis Varoufakis, had brought no new proposals to a preparatory meeting before the summit. 
 
 "I have the strong impression there were 18 ... ministers of finance who felt the urgency of the situation and there is one ... who doesn't feel the urgency of the situation," Belgian Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt said. 
 
 Greek officials said the leftist government had broadly repeated a reform plan Tsipras sent to the euro zone last week. 
 
 Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the Eurogroup of currency zone finance ministers, said the ministers would hold a conference call on Wednesday to review a Greek request for a medium-term assistance program from the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund, due to be submitted within hours. 
 
 At stake is more than just the future of Greece, a nation of 11 million that makes up just 2 percent of the euro zone's economic output and population. 
 
 If Greek banks run out of money and the country has to print its own currency, it could mean a state leaving the euro for the first time since it was launched in 1999, creating a precedent and fuelling doubts about the long-term viability of an incomplete European monetary union. 
 
 "Even if it did not trigger a short-term domino effect, the integrity of the euro zone would come under fresh threat with each episode of political uncertainty within member countries," said Thibault Mercier, an analyst at BNP Paribas. 
 
 Even in France, the euro zone country most sympathetic to Athens, an opinion poll published on Tuesday showed one in two people want Greece to leave the euro zone. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Angeliki Koutantou and George Georgiopoulos in Athens, Julia Fioretti, Adrian Croft, Francesco Guarascio, Robin Emmott, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Tom Koerkemeier, Julien Ponthus, Alexander Saeedy and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels, John O'Donnell in Frankfurt and Mark John in Paris; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Toni Reinhold)
– There have been plenty of meetings and plenty of deadlines over the years of the Greek debt crisis, but European Union leaders have never sounded so serious—and fed up—as last night, when Greece was ordered to deliver a workable plan for reforms in return for loans by the end of this week. "Tonight I have to say it loud and clear—the final deadline ends this week," European Council President Donald Tusk said after an emergency meeting of 19 eurozone leaders ended fruitlessly, per the New York Times. The BBC clarifies the recent timeline: After Greece didn't bring a proposal to the table yesterday as expected, a deadline of tomorrow night has been set for its proposal of which economic reforms it will institute in exchange for loans. On Sunday, EU leaders will again gather at a summit and decide, as the AP puts it, "whether the plan is good enough." European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker—who was "sputtering with rage," according to the Times—told reporters last night that plans for Greece exiting the eurozone have now been drawn up in detail. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that after the "serious, candid discussion," she is not optimistic that a solution will be found, reports the BBC. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seems to have been at a different meeting than everybody else: Reuters reports that he "sounded upbeat" after the summit, saying the talks had taken place in a "positive climate" and promising to deliver a plan quickly. Meanwhile, Greece this morning formally asked Europe's bailout fund for a three-year bailout, per the Wall Street Journal, which saw the letter Greece submitted. The Journal reports that the letter isn't very detailed on the measures Greece intends to implement; "the full list of overhauls and budget cuts is what will determine whether the application ... will be approved by the rest of the eurozone."