France and Germany have agreed on a deal for a financing plan to help debt-laden Greece, which will include the IMF.
The package will amount to 23bn euros (£21bn).
The French presidency said there were "very precise conditions" under which the 16 eurozone members "could be led to intervene" to help Greece.
Co-ordinated bilateral and IMF loans are envisaged to help struggling country and EU officials are poised to discuss the plan.
The news broke as leaders of the 27 EU member states gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit.
Last Thursday German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would only press for aid and loans to Greece as a last resort.
She has been reluctant to offer anything resembling a bailout, which is not allowed under the current single currency rules.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called for action to stabilise the euro when he arrived at the summit.
The single currency fell to a 10-month low against the dollar on Wednesday after Portugal, another heavily indebted country, was downgraded by leading credit ratings agency Fitch.
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