European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday Europe was in a very decisive moment for the future of Greece and euro as crucial debt deal talks were dragging on in Athens.

"I think all Europe has now the eyes in Athens. We are in a very decisive moment regarding the future in Greece and future of euro. We want Greece in the euro," Barroso told reporters before his meeting with his predecessor Jacques Delors.

The European Commission has made it clear from the beginning that "it is very important not only for Greece but the euro and for the European project to keep Greece in the euro," Barroso added.

His comments came as the Greek authorities late Tuesday missed another deadline to approve conditions for a second bailout program offered by the troika, namely, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank.

Before signing on the 130-billion-euro (about 172 billion U.S. dollars) package, the troika insisted the three major political parties in the Greek coalition government make firm commitment to "painful" structural reforms and austerity measures, something the parties had been reluctant to do due to strong public opposition.

Without the bailout loans, Greece, with a government debt-to-GDP ratio hovering at 160 percent, would be forced into default or an exit from the eurozone on March 20 when 14.5 billion euro of bonds mature.

"For that, we are urging the political parties in Greece to make a commitment to the common goals," Barroso said.

"I think it is very important for them, it is very important to support the efforts that we are deploying together with the Greek government so that we can have a program, a new program for Greece that we can keep Greece in the euro area," he added.

The EU leader also raised the stake of avoiding a default for Greece by pointing to the high costs of a default of Greece.

"I want to say very clearly, the costs of a default of Greece, the costs of a possible exit of Greece of the euro would be much higher than the costs of continuing to support Greece," he said.

"This is very important. Of course, it also means that Greece undertakes clearly, unambiguously, to make the necessary adjustment efforts," Barrosso added.