It is still unclear whether the EU will bail-out debt-riddled Greece.

In a poll for popular newspaper Bild am Sonntag, over half of the German public want Greece to be expelled from the euro if necessary.

The poll also showed that two thirds of Germans did not want Germany or any other European Union (EU) country providing credit to Greece if it can’t raise enough debt to fund its deficit.

Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union government warned that a bailout for one country could lead to bailouts of other economic weaklings, such as Portugal and Spain, where the unemployment rate is 20%.

Since Greece joined the euro in 2001, public spending has been substantial and, coupled with widespread tax evasion, has led to huge debts that have meant it is unable to meet EU rules. At 12.7%, its deficit is four times higher than European rules allow according to the Stability and Growth Pact.

Yet while the EU has agreed to help the debt-riddled nation, it has made no clear promises or outlines of exactly how it plans to do so. Euro zone finance ministers are expected to discuss Greece again on Monday and Tuesday this week.

The euro fell to nine-month lows on Friday (12 February), and many expect further falls this week, as investors expressed disappointment that ministers had failed to set out a detailed plan of action to prevent the country from defaulting.

Following the EU summit last week, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said that Greece had not asked for financial aid. A summit statement said: “We fully support the efforts of the Greek government and their commitment to do whatever is necessary, including adopting additional measures to ensure that the ambitious targets set in the stability programme for 2010 and the following years are met.

“We call on the Greek government to implement all these measures in a rigorous and determined manner to effectively reduce the budgetary deficit by 4% in 2010.”

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said his country was ready to take the extra action needed to reduce its deficit: “If it is necessary we are committed to take these additional measures to achieve our targets.”

However, on his return to Athens, he told cabinet members at a televised meeting that the EU lacked coordination and undermined Greece’s credibility. “…In the battle against the impressions and the psychology of the market, it was at the very least timid”, he said, and that the speculation about the country had “created a psychology of imminent collapse”.

Greece has already implemented austerity measures aimed at reducing the deficit by more than €10 billion ($13.7 billion). It has hiked taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol, raised the retirement age by two years, imposed public sector pay cuts and applied tough new tax evasion regulations.