A day after the European Union (EU) provided Greece with political support in its bid to rescue its public finances, George Papandreou accused Brussels of being “timid,” lacking coordination and of using Greece as a scapegoat to hide the 27-nation bloc’s own failings.

Speaking to his Cabinet on Friday after returning from an EU leaders’ summit with plenty of encouraging words but no specific financial commitment from the other members, Papandreou suggested that Brussels should also share some responsibility for Greece’s perilous predicament.

“Greece has no political or economic superpower to fight this battle alone,” he said. “In the last few months of this crisis, the EU gave its political support but in the battle against the impressions and the psychology of the market, it was at the very least timid.”

He said that speculation about the country had “created a psychology of imminent collapse”.

The prime minister then turned on the previous New Democracy government, accusing it of covering up the true state of the Greek economy. The conservatives had projected a 3.7 percent deficit for 2009 last spring, several months before PASOK came to power.

But Papandreou said it had been remiss of Brussels not to double-check the figures and now put all the blame on Greece.

“There was quite a big effort in the European Union to hide their responsibilities behind Greece,” he said. “The Union, the Commission, even Eurostat had the responsibility to be vigilant and to point out to the previous government the slippery slope it was on.”

The premier said that the lack of a coordinated response by the EU to Greece’s problem had led to Greek bond spreads reaching a 10-year high and the euro coming under pressure from speculators.

“There was a lack of coordination between the various bodies of the Union, the Commission, the member states and the European Central Bank. There were even differing opinions within those bodies.”

Mr Papandreous comments followed the European Union offer to back Greece through its debt crisis after the European Leaders summit in Brussels.

Despite the EU offer to back Greece it gave no details of any plans to help. European Council president Herman Van Rompuy told reporters after a summit of European Union leaders that assisting Greece was “not necessary today”.

The leaders’ broad political commitment came as Greece struggled to tame a towering budget deficit seen endangering other markets in the 16-country eurozone. Among these are other highly-leveraged members such as Portugal and Spain.

“Euro-area member states will take determined and co-ordinated action if needed to safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole,” Mr Van Rompuy said.

“Greece did not ask for any financial support,” he added.

Mr Papandreou also reinforced this message after the Leaders summit, insisting that EU leaders didn’t discuss specific plans because Greece didn’t need financial help.

He described the leaders’ political agreement as a sign that they would support Greece as it corrects past mistakes and returns its economy to stable footing, dismissing recent market moves as pure speculation.

“It’s a crystal clear message for the Greek economy and also for the eurozone,” Mr Papandreou said.

European stock markets and the euro fell sharply as it became clear the EU leaders made only a political commitment to help the country.