Ahead of today's key-meetings of eurozone leaders and finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker has been playing down the chances of a new debt deal being agreed today.

"We must try and find a solution. It can't be done today - that would be to simplistic. Today we'll pave the way, through talks and mutual understanding, to put things in order. The ball lies in the Greek government's court," he said during a speech at the European Parliament this morning.

The President called for a more measured debate: "It is time to stop these outbursts, this shooting from the hip. It is unacceptable for the European Commission to be deemed terrorists by the Greek government. That is not the kind of Europe we want. We have tried hard and if only everyone else had tried as hard," referring to comments made by former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis.

Mr Juncker courted controversy last week when he told the Greek public to "not commit suicide" because they are "afraid of death" - when calling for a yes vote in the Greek referendum. The country has experienced a severe spike in suicides since the on-set of the current economic crisis - but today the President called for a toning down of rhetoric.

The Commission President was one of the key figures who said last week that a no vote from Greece in its referendum would be a vote for leaving the euro.

The Greek government has expressed its commitment to staying in the monetary union, and the majority of Greeks still support the country's use of the euro.

He is now calling on Greece to clarify what a no vote means:

"A question was put to the Greek people about something that does not exist. Perhaps you would like to explain to me in detail what the question was that was put to the Greek people – but perhaps that would be too much of a circus."