Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 03-02-01

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PM does not rule out emergency EU summit over Iraq

[02] Iraq crisis dominates FM Papandreou's talks in Turkey

[03] EU troika discusses Turkey's European prospects, Iraq in Ankara

[04] Parliament speaker speaks out against war in Iraq

[05] EU Treaty of Nice entering into force on February 1, 2003

[06] PM: a bigger EU must be more effective and more democratic

[07] Meeting at Athens office of Europarliament

[08] Reports say terrorist suspects may be arrested in coming hours

[09] Greek economic weekly review

[10] Gov't says Greek Balkan reconstruction plan going well

[11] Balkan economies to have common prospects, Drys says

[12] Anomeritis, Committee discuss Greek shipping sector

[13] Greek stocks end week 2.17 percent lower

[14] Culture minister and Athens mayor discuss 2004 Olympics

[15] Culture minister announces 54 architects' awards as part of Cultural Olympiad

[16] Seminars on globalization by European Commission on Monday & Tuesday

[17] Conference on equal remuneration for men and women organized by Equality Centre

[18] Greek peacekeepers to receive medals from France

[19] Greek Cypriot side submits its reply to Turkish Cypriot positions

[20] Government believes UN are considering alternative ways forward

[21] Verheugen says Cyprus will join the EU May 2004

[22] PACE report indicates violations of enclaved people's human rights

[01] PM does not rule out emergency EU summit over Iraq

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

The letter, which urged support for US efforts to ensure Iraq's compliance with Security Council resolutions, was signed by EU member-states Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Denmark and by candidate states Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Speaking after a meeting with a delegation from the ETUC, a European trade union confederation, Simitis said that the Greek presidency would not call a summit over the letter per se but only if crucial decisions about further developments had to be made.

He underlined, however, that the letter was an act that created problems because it had been sent out without any prior notice.

''It is, however, an expression of opinion, which member-states are free to make,'' he added.

It was the presidency's obligation, duty and aim to organize dialogue for a common EU position on the issue, he said.

''We have agreed that we must try to have a common foreign policy. This must be our goal. Therefore, it is good if the EU member-states communicate with one another. For this reason we must try to overcome our differences,'' he said.

The way in which the letter on Iraq was sent out by the 'eight', Simitis added, demonstrated a lack of communication.

''We do not help Europe acquire a strong voice within the global system in this way,'' he concluded.

According to government spokesman Christos Protopapas earlier on Friday, Simitis had ordered his diplomatic attache Theodoros Sotiropoulos to get in touch with Simitis' EU counterparts on Thursday and brief them on the action of the 'eight' and the reaction of the Greek presidency.

The nine EU member-states that had not signed the letter had declared absolute support for the positions of the Greek presidency, as this was expressed in a statement by Simitis, the spokesman said.

The five co-signatories said that they signed the letter as an expression of support for the United States and that they continued to support the decision of the EU General Affairs Council on Monday.

Representatives of the five countries also recognized that their action had caused a problem for the EU, regardless of their intentions, and they agreed that all necessary measures should be taken to achieve an alignment of views in order to avoid a major rift within the Union.

The statement by the 'Eight' undoubtedly put the EU in a negative light and all must now focus on the problem of achieving a ''common EU stance in the direction of a political solution in Iraq,'' the spokesman stressed.

Protopapas noted that similar 'selective alliances' had occurred within the EU before, while in the case of Afghanistan the Community had totally failed to achieve the common stance achieved the previous Monday.

He said the prime minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou would meet on Saturday morning to assess the situation and decide what new initiatives the Greek presidency would undertake.

During his meeting with the leadership of the ETUC on Friday, the prime minister again expressed concern over the prospects of a coming war in Iraq and the possible repercussions on the economy.

The meeting also focused on European Employment Strategy, immigration and the prospects of a 'social Europe' that will be raised at the EU summit in Thessaloniki during the Greek presidency.

The trade unionists were also briefed on the issues discussed at the EU's ECOFIN council by Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis, while they welcomed the positions of British and US trade unions against a war in Iraq.

[02] Iraq crisis dominates FM Papandreou's talks in Turkey

ANKARA 01/02/2003 (ANA - A Podimata)

Diplomatic sources said that at his meeting with Papandreou the Turkish President reiterated his country's support for the role and the procedure of the UN Security Council and that he was particularly concerned over possible destabilizing consequences that prospective military operations in Iraq might entail for the Turkish economy.

Papandreou, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, briefed Sezer on the outcome of the EU foreign ministers' General Affairs Council on 27 January and the common stance of the European Union's 15, the sources said.

In responding to an inquiry by Sezer whether the EU supported the adoption of a second UN Security Council resolution on Iraq, the sources said that Papandreou informed him that views on that issue were divergent.

In separate meetings with Gul and Erdogan, Papandreou informed them of the Greek EU presidency's intention to take specific initiatives for a diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis and that it was considering calling a meeting of the foreign ministers of the 15 EU member-states, the ten countries recently approved for membership, and the three candidate states Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, aimed at averting war in Iraq.

Such a meeting, he said, could take place early February.

Both Gul and Erdogan found the proposal very interesting, the sources said.

In a similar spirit, Turkey recently hosted a meeting in Istanbul of the foreign ministers of the countries bordering with Iraq in a bid to seek a peaceful outlet to the Iraq crisis. The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia (all bordering with Iraq) and close neighbor Egypt.

[03] EU troika discusses Turkey's European prospects, Iraq in Ankara

ANKARA 01/02/2003 (ANA/A. Podimata)

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini for the next EU presidency and EU Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen took part in talks covering a review of the EU-Turkey association agreement, negotiations for a new package of EU funds for Turkey and the reforms being carried out by the Turkish government to satisfy the Copenhagen criteria, as well as the Cyprus issue and Turkey's bilateral problems with Greece and the Iraq crisis.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou underlined that the Greek EU presidency supported Turkey's efforts to join the Community and said that a joint program ''with a horizon at the end of 2003'' had been worked out in cooperation with Italy, which would next take over the EU presidency.

His Italian counterpart Franco Frattini similarly underlined his country's strong support for Turkey's course toward accession.

Papandreou also stressed that a solution of the Cyprus issue and better relations with Greece would not only benefit both countries but also Turkey's European prospects.

Yakis said that he would reply to an invitation from his Greek counterpart to begin negotiations on the security aspects of the Annan plan when internal deliberations within Turkey were completed.

Troika and Turkey on Iraq crisis: Referring to the crisis in Iraq, the Greek minister said the troika's talks with the Turkish government had been useful and he stressed the need to ''send a strong message to the Iraqi government'' to conform to the decisions of the UN Security Council.

He said the Greek presidency would continue efforts for a common stance by European countries and said that he would be cooperating closely with Turkey, also, on this issue.

Frattini said they had ''confirmed the goal of finding a peaceful solution for Iraq's disarmament under the supervision of the United Nations'' while he stressed that the credibility of the Security Council was at stake.

The Italian minister denied that a statement signed by eight European countries on the Iraq crisis, in which they called on Europe to support US efforts to ensure Iraq's compliance with Security Council resolutions, was in conflict with the joint position released by the 15 EU foreign ministers on Monday.

Frattini, whose country was among those that signed the statement, fully confirmed his country's support for the joint position adopted by the EU General Affairs Council and said that the statement aimed ''to further unify our position'' and recognized the need to exert strong international pressure on Iraq.

Papandreou praised his Italian counterpart's statement and his assurances that the statement by the eight did not intend to come into conflict with the joint EU position.

According to Yakis, meanwhile, Turkey's position on Iraq was very close to that of the EU. Responding to questions about the talks to activate article 5 in the NATO treaty - to provide a NATO country with military support in the case of an attack by a third country - Yakis said that the preparations being made did not necessarily mean a war would take place.

''Our first hope is that Saddam Hussein will get the message and conform to the decisions of the Security Council,'' he said.

On the same issue, Papandreou said that Greece had always been in favor of the application of article 5. He also noted that France and Germany did not object to the request in principle but only to the timing.

[04] Parliament speaker speaks out against war in Iraq

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Kaklamanis stressed the dangers for international peace and Europe from such a war and emphasized that this new war was a move to undermine Europe and its future course.

He also referred to a letter by eight European countries in support of the US on the Iraq crisis, and he compared the new situation and the 'so-called war against terrorism' to an inoperable cancer that spread to the entire organism as soon as it was operated on.

[05] EU Treaty of Nice entering into force on February 1, 2003

BRUSSELS 01/02/2003 (ANA-V.Demiris)

Referring to the Treaty of Nice, EU Commission President Romano Prodi stated: ''The Treaty of Nice makes the necessary changes to prepare the European institutions for enlargement. It paves the way for the first peaceful unification of the European continent. Nice will also allow Europe to act more effectively because it scraps the national veto right in some areas''.

The institutional changes foreseen by Nice will take concrete effect in 2004, the year when enlargement will happen. The new European Parliament, which will be elected in June 2004, will have 732 members. This is the new maximum number defined in the Nice Treaty, which also contains a new division of seats per Member State. The next European Commission, which will take office in November 2004, will have 25 members (one per Member State). This means that the bigger Member States will no longer appoint a second Commissioner. Once the EU reaches 27 members, the number of Commissioners will be lower than the number of Member States.

Also from 1 November onwards, a new weighting of votes will apply in the Council of Ministers. In addition to meeting the threshold for a qualified majority vote, Nice stipulates that a vote in the Council will need the support of a majority of Member States, and that a Member State can request verification of whether the majority vote represents at least 62% of the population.

The Treaty of Nice will also facilitate decision-making in the Council of Ministers. It contains 27 provisions, which move from the unanimity rule to a vote with qualified majority. For instance, measures to encourage actions that counter discrimination, specific support measures in the industrial policy field, the statute and regulations governing political parties at European level, and judicial cooperation in civil proceedings having cross-border implications all move away from unanimity. These and other cases also become part of the co-decision procedure, which means that the European Parliament will legislate on an equal footing with the Council.

The negotiation and conclusion of international agreements on services and commercial aspects of intellectual property from now on fall under the qualified majority rule, with some exceptions. Finally, the future appointment of key figures, such as the President and Members of the European Commission, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, special representatives, and the deputy Secretary-general of the Council, will no longer require a unanimous decision in the Council.

The President of the European Commission receives increased powers. He or she can decide on the internal organization of the Commission; will allocate portfolios to Commissioners and if necessary reassign them during the term of office; will appoint a number of vice-presidents, after collective approval of the College; and may request a Commissioner to resign subject to approval by the College.

The Nice Treaty introduces a new procedure to detect a potential serious breach of fundamental rights by a Member State. If this new prevention mechanism failed to address the situation, the European Council could declare the actual existence of such a breach and suspend certain rights of the country concerned, for instance the right to vote in the Council.

The treaty allows for a major reform of the Union's judicial system in order to tackle the problem of case overload and speed up the delivery of judgments. It provides for the possibility of setting up internal chambers in the Court of First Instance to deal with certain proceedings. The possibility for more decentralization in the handling of cases within the Court of Justice is foreseen. The approval by the Council of the rules of procedures of both Courts will happen by qualified majority instead of unanimity. In foreseeing this reform, the Nice Treaty ensures the coherence of jurisprudence.

Commissioner Barnier, who was negotiator for the European Commission of the Nice Treaty, declared: ''Our immediate challenge is to manage the first stage of enlargement, for which the Treaty of Nice is indispensable. But the Treaty does not give fully adequate solutions to make an enlarged Union work effectively. The Convention on the Future of the Union should help the next Intergovernmental Conference to find the political will, which was sometimes lacking during the Nice negotiations''.

[06] PM: a bigger EU must be more effective and more democratic

WASHINGTON 01/02/2003 (ANA - T. Ellis)

In an eight-column article titled ''A bigger EU must be more effective and more democratic'' published in the journal’s edition of ''Winter 2003'', Simitis stressed that Greece envisaged a larger European Union, enlarged with ten new members, stronger, more influential on world affairs and closer to its citizens at home, a vast region of stability, democracy and prosperity, international cooperation, justice and sustainable development.

The European Institute is a Washington DC based public policy forum on transatlantic relations.

[07] Meeting at Athens office of Europarliament

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Referring to problems facing all rotating EU Presidencies, George Kasimatis, Director of the Europarliament’s Athens offices said EU enlargement, dialogue on the new constitution and issues relating to immigration and illegal immigration were the main priorities of the Europarliament for the first six months of 2003. He added, through special editions and meetings with the press, the Europarliament was making its best to facilitate dialogue on EU matters.

George Markopouliotis, Director of the European Commission’s representation in Athens spoke about the role of the Presidency, stressing that it is a hard job for the president and ministers who have been assigned EU-Presidency related duties to promote national positions.

Director of the Foreign Ministry’s EU Presidency office Stavroula Vavalea, who has worked in the same post in two of the past three Greek EU presidencies, referred to difficulties in carrying out such duties, as well as to their importance and positive outcomes. She expressed hopes for the success of the current ‘fourth’ time of Greece’s presidency of the Union, and noted it offered an opportunity for projects and improvements also in areas such as health and telecommunications.

[08] Reports say terrorist suspects may be arrested in coming hours

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

The reports said that arrests will not take place on a wide scale, but will probably be limited.

About 10 people are expected to be rounded up and five or six of them will probably be detained, while it is doubtful whether the rest will be brought before justice.

However, the reports said that the anti-terrorist service is aware of the participation of over 100 people in ELA's ''hit groups'' over the period between 1975-1995, but lacks substantiated evidence capable of supporting charges.

The file of proceedings to be prepared on the case, apart from those to be arrested, will also contain the names of quite a few people and, according to existing evidence, the judicial authorities will decide whether arrest warrants will be issued for them as well.

[09] Greek economic weekly review

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Speaking to reporters, after a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis during the week, Mr Christodoulakis who also chairs ECOFIN meetings in the first six months of 2003, noted that the Greek economy was not immune to international crisis, although he stressed that domestic economy was largely based on internal factors. The Greek minister reiterated the government's goal of achieving growth rates of 3.8 percent this year. ''This goal is absolutely realistic,'' he said.

In other headline news this week, Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos described 2002 as a successful year for tourism and noted that tourism revenues rose 1.0 percent from the previous year despite a 1.0 percent fall in tourist arrivals over the same period.

Mr Tsohatzopoulos stressed that charter flights fell 1.5 percent in 2002 while arrivals in Greek tourist harbors rose 8.5 percent over the same period. The Greek minister said that developments in Iraq would determine this year's tourist season and refrained from making any predictions.

Greek equity mutual funds are returning -6.0 percent so far this year further burdening investors who have placed their money to this category of assets. Combined equity mutual funds are also yielding negative results in January (-5.0 percent).

Economy and Finance Minister Christos Pahtas said that talks on drafting a new regional policy in the European Union would begin during the Greek EU presidency, in the first six months of 2003. Mr Pahtas said he would begin a tour of EU member-states and candidate countries to discuss the issue.

Insurance companies and the country's public hospitals are discussing ways to forge a strategic cooperation aimed to upgrade healthcare services and reduce expenses in healthcare costs.

[10] Gov't says Greek Balkan reconstruction plan going well

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Loverdos and Deputy Finance Minister Christos Pahtas said on the sidelines of a meeting of the plan's monitoring committee in the northern port city of Thessaloniki that allocation had been set of funds for private productive investments.

Of a total of 107 million euros, or 20 percent of the 550 million euro reconstruction plan, Albania would receive 10 million euros, Bulgaria 11 million euros, Yugoslavia (Serbia, Monte-negro and Kosovo) 53 million euros, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 15 million euros, Romania 14 million euros, and Bosnia Herzegovina 4.0 million euros.

In addition, 13 project proposals had been submitted, which would be evaluated in the middle of February. The projects were eight for Yugoslavia, three for Albania, and one each for Montenegro and Bosnia, the officials said.

[11] Balkan economies to have common prospects, Drys says

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Speaking to reporters, in a news conference in the framework of Agrotica trade fair in Thessaloniki, Mr Drys stressed that "it is our wish to systemize and speed up the work of joint committees set up to promote agricultural issues between Balkan states".

The new conference was held to welcome his counterparts from Bulgaria, Romania, FYROM and Turkey.

The Greek minister called for strong bilateral relations with other Balkan states to promote trade in farm products.

[12] Anomeritis, Committee discuss Greek shipping sector

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Addressing a meeting with the presidency of the Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee in London, a meeting held to discuss the Prestige tanker sinking off the coast of Spain and to cut the New Year's cake of the committee, Mr Anomeritis stressed that decisions taken last year were aimed to equally strengthen the sector's competitiveness and prestige and that the Greek shipping sector was aided by a strong state.

"We are the only EU member-state to have a ministry for merchant shipping and a strong harbor police to perform its duties," the Greek minister said.

Mr Anomeritis stressed that he implemented into actions and law everything he had pledged a year ago during his meeting with the Committee and added: "In an international level, and in particular IMO's operations, we participate actively to all procedures and support its decisions, according to Greek shipping's interests and the view of the international community. Greece will not accept any move to undermine IMO's credibility, the Sea Law and all International Agreements in the name of bad junctures or political maneuvers. We will be very happy to see the current deputy secretary-general of the Greek Harbor Police, Mr Efthimios Mitropoulos, becoming IMO's new secretary-general in June."

Mr Anomeritis stressed that the Greek EU presidency's goal was to "adopt initiatives or proposals to promote quality shipping, with quality vessels and cheaper shipping fares."

He criticized, however, a decision by Spain and France to forbid single-haul tankers to use the two countries' ports and urged for a full examination of conditions that led to the shinking of "Prestige".

The London Committee representatives urged the Greek state to support the shipping sector and to examine all the financial parameters of speeding up procedures to retire single-haul tankers.

[13] Greek stocks end week 2.17 percent lower

Athens, 01/02/2003 (ANA)

Traders said buying interest for blue chip stocks in the last hour of trading led to the recovery of the Athens bourse.

The general index rose 0.75 percent to end at 1,683.59 points, with turnover a low 75.5 million euros.

The Retail, Industrial and Bank sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (1.03 percent, 0.81 percent and 0.79 percent, respectively), while the Textile, Food-Beverage and Publication sectors suffered the heaviest losses (3.25 percent, 1.60 percent and 1.41 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.87 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.10 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.59 percent lower. The wider FTSE/ASE 140 index rose 0.56 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 198 to 107 with another 52 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week with a net loss of 2.17 percent.

Derivatives Market Close: Turnover at 56.0 mln euros Friday

Equity Index Futures: