Euro zone agrees bailout for Greece -report

"The Greek case is a turning point for the euro zone," the Guardian also quoted EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn as saying in an interview with it and other European papers.

"If Greece fails and we fail, this will do serious and maybe permanent damage to the credibility of the European Union. The euro is not only a monetary arrangement but a core political project of the European Union ... in that sense we are at a crossroads."

Rehn said he would propose next month a regime of "rigorous surveillance of national budgets" including giving Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, big new auditing powers over the accounts of euro zone member states.

(Reporting by Tim Pearce)