Greece will hold a controversial referendum in early December that will determine whether or not it stays in the eurozone, European leaders said on Wednesday.
European leaders also said that Greece won't receive any rescue loans until after the referendum.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was flown to France for an emergency meeting on Wednesday to explain his decision to hold a surprise referendum on a bailout deal that took months to work out.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and top officials from the European Union met with Papandreou, gathering at the Palais des Festivals, site of Cannes' famous film festival.
"The referendum…in essence is about nothing else but the question, does Greece want to say in the eurozone, yes or no?" said Merkel at a press conference.
On Monday, Papandreou announced plans to hold a referendum that will give Greek voters the choice of whether or not to approve the bailout that is necessary to prevent their country from going bankrupt.
Papandreou's plan to let the Greek people vote has riled financial markets. There are fears that Greeks may vote against the government's tough austerity plan and send markets into further turmoil.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced after a meeting with Papandreou on Wednesday that the referendum will be held on Dec. 4. Sarkozy said the vote would be Dec. 4 or 5.
The chief of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Legarde, said, "I hope that this whole thing can be closed and completed by mid-December. I think it's important from a cash point of view."
Greece's pending bailout resulted from weeks of negotiations by European leaders, who recently hammered out a deal to recapitalize major banks, boost a bailout fund and to have bondholders accept a writedown on their Greek holdings.
With so much work put into the debt deal, Papandreou's sudden call for a referendum has raised the ire of many European nations, particularly France and Germany.
"They're in an absolute rage about this, because France and Germany are the prime sponsors of the new Greek bailout," said Eric Reguly, a Globe and Mail correspondent who spoke to CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.
"And this referendum choice came right out of the blue and it's thrown the whole eurozone into turmoil."
So far, Papandreou has not backed down from his position, which he claims is a democratic necessity.
"We will not implement any program by force, but only with the consent of the Greek people," Papandreou told his Cabinet, according to a text of his remarks that was released to the public.
"This is our democratic tradition and we demand that it is also respected abroad."
He said that any referendum will have "a clear mandate" and will give a sense of how the Greek people view their future in the European Union.
"The dilemma is not ‘this government or another one,' the dilemma is ‘yes or no to the agreement,' 'yes or no to Europe,' 'yes or no to the euro,'" Papandreou said.
But with Greece's lack of ability to handle its debt crisis on its own, Reguly said that other European countries likely feel that Athens is not in a position to make demands.
"France and Germany would never admit this, but they consider Greece to have absolutely no sovereignty now because it cannot pay its own bills and they think they can tell Greece what to do," Reguly said.
"Guess what? The Greek government is saying: 'Forget it. We still have sovereignty and we can decide whether to have a referendum or not.'"
Papandreou's referendum pitch has also prompted criticism from within his own party.
One lawmaker has defected from the Socialist government, while others have spoken out against the prime minister's decision.
Socialist deputy Hara Kefalidou said Papandreou's referendum plans raise doubts about whether or not the government "is striving to save our country from bankruptcy."
With files from The Associated Press
