German business leaders urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to take a tough line with Greece at an emergency summit of euro zone leaders later on Monday, saying only reform concessions from Athens could keep the country in the euro zone.
The comments, from the heads of the leading German business federations, reflect a hardening line towards Greece. In past years, the same associations had warned against risking a so-called "Grexit", fearful of the consequences for the European economy.
"Greece must deliver today," Ingo Kramer, head of Germany's BDA employers association, told German newspaper Bild.
"Only then can Greece actually avert its own insolvency and only then can Greece remain in the Eurozone - and that has to be the common goal."
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Over the weekend, the European Union welcomed new proposals from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as a "good basis for progress" at the talks.
His government has so far resisted calls for pension spending cuts and is urging its creditors to provide it with debt relief in return for any concessions.
"Remaining in the euro zone depends on the Greek government making a reliable commitment to a path of reforms and promising proposals" - Eric Schweitzer
Ulrich Grillo, president of Germany's BDI industry association, suggested in Bild that the euro zone was not obliged to keep Greece in the bloc.
"[Countries] must not be allowed to remain in an economic and currency union at any cost," he said.
His comments were echoed by Eric Schweitzer, president of Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce, who said Europe's rules on stability should not be softened or re-interpreted.
"Remaining in the euro zone depends on the Greek government making a reliable commitment to a path of reforms and promising proposals."
Greece's Deputy Labour Minister, Dimitris Stratoulis, has said the country must not sign any deal that will renege on promises the Greek government to its people at the January election.
"I repeat: The deal will either be compatible with the basic lines of Syriza's election manifesto, or there will be no deal," Stratoulis told Antenna television on a morning news show. "The prime minister is negotiating with this in mind."
Greece will refuse to cut pensions and wages, and rejects lenders' demands to curb early retirement benefits immediately, he said, adding that such benefits could be cut at a later date.
Stratoulis repeated a government message that austerity had made Greece's plight worse, and that its creditors would suffer more than Greece itself if the country were pitched out of the euro zone.
"So far the lenders have not backed down mainly because if they had backed down or do back down, they would accept that the bailout policies destroyed Greece and its people," he said.
"We are not afraid of blackmail, and our priority is the public interest," he said. "Let's see if there will be a deal tonight."
