In spring 2010, financial support to Greece was provided through bilateral loans on the part of euro-area countries (Greek Loan Facility).
Shortly thereafter, as the crisis extended to other countries, two common mechanisms were established for the disbursement of financial support: the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), which is limited in size € billion) and is financed by the European Union, and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which has greater lending capacity (initially equal to € billion, then € billion), is temporary in nature, and is guaranteed by the euro-area Member States.