Saturday, June 30, 2012


Eurozone crisis causes aid cuts to poor, report says

Aid workers in NigerData says funding for aid work has been cut by European countries
The European debt crisis has led to cuts in government development aid to poor countries, says a new report by the aid watchdog Data.
It is the first significant reduction in Europe-wide aid budgets for a decade.
The biggest percentage cuts in the year 2010/11 were made by two of the states worst affected by the debt crisis - Spain and Greece.
But overall European development aid was also down by 1.5%.
The report says the new figures "reveal that those bearing the brunt of Europe's economic crisis include some of the world's poorest people".
"As austerity bites across Europe, we can now see the impact it is having on life-saving aid programmes," it adds.
In the year 2010-11, Spain cut its aid budget - the sixth largest in Europe - by nearly a third.
Greece cut its much smaller programme by 40%, according to the Data study, which was published in association with the campaign group ONE.
Anti-poverty target
The report is published as part of a lobbying campaign by aid agencies as EU leaders begin negotiating the next seven year European budget.
Over the last decade the trend has been for aid cash to rise.
European countries account for just over half of all global official development assistance.
Many of them have been slowly nudging towards a United Nations anti-poverty target of 0.7% of national income spent on aid.
The Netherlands and some Scandinavian countries have exceeded this proportion.
By far the biggest three donors are Germany ($14bn - 0.39% of national income), UK ($13.5 bn - 0.55%) and France ($12 bn - 0.42%)
One of the authors of the Data report, Adrian Lovett, said the countries that would be worst affected by any prolonged aid cuts were poor African states.
He said: "The countries we're worried about are mostly in Africa - for example Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi.
"At the moment they need aid and its saving lives on a daily basis."
Aid work in NigerWhile aid money does save lives, critics say it is often wastefully distributed
There's a broad official consensus among aid agencies - and the western governments that often finance them - that development aid works.
But aid is not without its critics.
Some say it is wastefully distributed and can discourage poorly performing developing country governments from accepting their responsibilities.
The argument goes that if Medecins Sans Frontieres run the best hospitals in Haiti, for example, or Oxfam successfully digs the best water wells in Chad, why should the governments there bother?
Smart leadership
Such critics would also argue that countries such as China and India - and the many African states which currently have strong economic growth rates - are not getting richer because of aid.
In many of these cases, the aid critics say, infrastructure investment, commodities exports or liberalisation have been far more significant than aid.
Adrian Lovett counters these arguments with the example of Ghana.
"Ghana has in the past had a substantial amount of aid. That assistance has been well used through smart leadership at the national level and better coordination by the various donors.
"So Ghana is now on the brink of ending its dependence on development cash. That's exactly the route we see many African countries potentially taking."
But Mr Lovett drew a distinction between emergency aid - for famine victims, for example - and longer term development assistance.
He said aid advocates such as himself wanted, ultimately, to do themselves out of a job.
"There's always going to be international action around humanitarian crises. That is a natural human impulse.
"But we do want to see a day when we will help some countries and they will also help us in return in a relationship of equals.
"We want that rather than the donor client relationship we have seen in the past."

After 30 years, City of London loses links with Brussels


Cameron: Keeping tight-lipped?
Britain has become sub-marginal following the EU Summit of 9 December, which reshaped the geo-economic direction of the European continent with the acceleration of fiscal union, a process that will include reinforced regulation and supervision at a European level.
The attempts by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the City of London to block financial supervision and the strengthening of the Eurozone have failed dramatically and have left the United Kingdom isolated and trailing behind developments. The new situation brings to a close the 30 years of undisputed British domination of Europe’s finances, which intensified in the past decade and blocked the European Union from advancing towards a European system for banking supervision, which if it had been introduced a decade ago would have largely prevented the present Eurozone crisis.
So far Great Britain, in order to facilitate the working of the City of London, namely a complex of ‘nothing’ trading companies profiting from the lack of any supervision by European financial markets, had appointed the key ranking Commission official in the internal market department with direct intervention of Downing Street to European Commission president.

Germany "true" to its views, Merkel says after Spain-Italy summit win Eds: Starts new cycle

Europe
29.06.2012
By our dpa-correspondent and Europe Online    auf Facebook posten  Auf Twitter posten  Im VZ-Netzwerk posten
Brussels (dpa) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday insisted that her country had not compromised on its doctrine of making solidarity conditional, hours after Italy and Spain won an acrimonious summit fight as they demanded relief for their sky-high borrowing costs.

"We remain entirely within our prior formula: give and take, conditionality and control," Merkel told reporters in Brussels before heading into a second day of meetings with EU counterparts.

"And, insofar, I think that we have done something important, but have also stayed true to our philosophy - no benefit without a trade-off," she added.

The chancellor had reportedly been wary of bowing to Italian and Spanish demands ahead of a key parliamentary vote in Berlin later Friday on the ratification of a new bailout fund and budget discipline rules for the eurozone.

Any summit decision proving unpopular in Germany could jeopardize the parliament‘s approval.

Eurozone leaders eventually agreed to change the terms of an upcoming Spanish bank rescue - recapitalizing banks without funneling the money through the state - and allow countries like Italy to tap into eurozone funds to reduce their borrowing costs. But the measures were not immediately operational and came with strings attached.

"Without memorandums of understanding, member states and banks in the EU will not be helped. So that balance between help and financial assistance, responsibility and control today is achieved," Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite noted.

The deal materialized only after Rome and Madrid blocked a European Union decision on a 120-billion-euro (161-billion-dollar) growth plan.

"This has nothing to do with blackmail, it has nothing to do with vanquisher or vanquished, winner or loser. We are making joint efforts here," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers.

"We moved together. The best way to make others move is to move yourself," French President Francois Hollande added. "We took an important step yesterday and overnight."

Economic issues were expected to take a back seat on the second day of the summit, although one matter still to be resolved remained whether Juncker would continue to serve as the influential leader of the Eurogroup.

Earlier this year, Juncker had announced his intention to quit the job he has occupied since 2005. But squabbles over his succession have made it "likely" that he would be reappointed temporarily, diplomats said Thursday. dpa alv amh ncs Author: Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl                                                      europe on line

Thursday, June 28, 2012


European leaders try to bridge differences


BRUSSELS — European leaders convened here Thursday for a two-day summit, with 27 nations scrambling to bridge deep differences over how to combat the region’s 21 / 2-year-old debt crisis.
The summit — the 19th held thus far in the region's elusive attempt to resolve its economic woes — was shaping up as a showdown between hard-line German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her allies, including the Netherlands and Finland, and the leaders of southern European countries who are looking for more aggressive, short-term action.
Graphic
An interactive look at the situation in Europe and how it affects you.
Click Here to View Full Graphic Story
An interactive look at the situation in Europe and how it affects you.

For Mexican voters gripped by fear, few good choices

For Mexican voters gripped by fear, few good choices
Ahead of July 1 elections, Mexicans say their lives are on the line because of drug violence.

Hong Kongers resist pressure to identify with ‘motherland’

Hong Kongers resist pressure to identify with ‘motherland’
Ahead of handover anniversary, educators protest curriculum change as “brainwashing.”

Historic handshakes

Historic handshakes
Throughout history, some handshakes have become a symbol of peace and hope.

Germany, in particular, is pushing for a long, slow slog toward European integration to shore up the euro, which could take a decade or more. But Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti signaled the concerns of hard-hit countries late Wednesday by saying the region was running out of time and called for immediate actions aimed at bringing down soaring borrowing costs that are threatening economic meltdowns in Italy and Spain — the euro zone’s third- and fourth-largest economies.
There was some indication Thursday that the Germans might be willing to accept an Italian proposal to tap European rescue funds to buy troubled government bonds, a move that could provide a relatively quick boost in market sentiment.
Leaders were gathering for afternoon talks Thursday ahead of a working dinner that night, with more talks and a working lunch scheduled for Friday.
They were expected to endorse at least one short-term measure — a program to pump roughly $165 billion worth of stimulus into the regional economy. While generally welcomed by analysts, the move is widely seen as unlikely to provide a major boost to the region’s moribund economy. Less than 10 percent of the $165 billion would be newly committed funds, with the majority coming from an existing pool of European Union structural funds being redirected toward fighting youth unemployment and other job-creation programs.
Most of the summit will be dedicated to debating longer-term steps toward European integration, including theestablishment of a sort of European Treasury that would vest central authorities with broad powers over national budgets. But leaders are unlikely to set a specific timetable for rolling out these grand schemes. Instead, they are set to agree on a general road map outlining the need for further studies and negotiations given that many nations — particularly Germany and France — have very different notions of how integration should take shape.
One such measure that could come together more rapidly is the creation of a regional banking union, including a financial supervisor who, in about a year, would have the power to do something long considered taboo in the fiercely independent nations of the euro zone: override the authority of national governments.
Yet Monti and his Spanish counterpart, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, are demanding far quicker and more dramatic action. Monti has been pushing hard for a plan that would allow a European bailout fund to divert cash to buying up troubled government bonds, thereby bringing down their soaring borrowing rates. But such a plan could drain the European bailout fund — to which Germany is the largest donor — at an alarming rate, and Merkel has thus far resisted such a measure. But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested Berlin might be willing to concede to such a move, although he said Germany still remains opposed to boosting the fund with more financial firepower.
Merkel has also stood firm against any quick decisions on issuing eurobonds or collective debt that could see the might of the German taxpayer stand behind troubled nations in southern Europe. Merkel told the German parliament on Wednesday that collective debt for Europe — seen by many economists as a vital weapon against the crisis — is “economically wrong and counterproductive.”
On Thursday, Germany — an island of strength and stability in an economically troubled region — began feeling more of a bite from the crisis, with the number of unemployed climbing by 7,000 to 2.88 million. Although Germany’s unemployment rate at 6.8 percent remains one of the lowest in the region, analysts suggested the signs of weakness might encourage Merkel to bend on a more aggressive short-term strategy to fight the crisis.            
She gave little public indication that she was preparing to do.
“There are no quick or easy solutions,” Merkel told in the German parliament Wednesday. “There is no magic formula, no coup, by which the debt crisis can be overcome once and for all.”                                                                                                   www.washington Post
ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟ ΠΙΣΤΟΠΟΙΗΣΗΣ ΒΙΟΛΟΓΙΚΩΝ ΠΡΟΪΟΝΤΩΝ «ΔΗΩ»Σεμινάρια για νέους που θέλουν να γίνουν αγρότες
28/06/2012

Ο Οργανισμός Πιστοποίησης Βιολογικών Προϊόντων «ΔΗΩ» με εμπειρία ετών στο χώρο του αγροδιατροφικού τομέα, διοργανώνει σεμινάρια για νέους που θέλουν να γίνουν αγρότες ή σε αγρότες που θέλουν να επεκτείνουν την δραστηριότητά τους.
 
Τα σεμινάρια με τίτλο «Ίδρυση Αγροτικής Επιχείρηση πρωτογενούς Τομέα και Μεταποίησης», θα πραγματοποιηθούν στη Θεσσαλονίκη, την Πέμπτη 05 Ιουλίου και στην Αθήνα, την Τετάρτη18 Ιουλίου. 

Δίνεται η ευκαιρία σε όσους ενδιαφέρονται να μάθουν πως θα ξεκινήσουν μια αγροτική εκμετάλλευση, φυτικής ή ζωικής κατεύθυνσης και επίσης, πως θα ξεκινήσουν μια επιχείρηση μεταποίησης αγροτικών προϊόντων. 

Στο σεμινάριο περιλαμβάνεται όλο το υλικό, η νομοθεσία, ερωτήσεις και απαντήσεις, αλλά και τα βήματα που πρέπει να ακολουθήσει ο ενδιαφερόμενος. 

Αιτήσεις Συμμετοχής στο site του Οργανισμού ΔΗΩ www.dionet.gr                     www.elzoni.gr
ΚΕΚΛΕΙΣΜΕΝΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΘΥΡΩΝ Η ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΕΛΙΣΑΒΕΤ – ΜΑΚΓΚΙΝΕΣ ΣΤΟ ΜΠΕΛΦΑΣΤΜια χειραψία τερμάτισε τον πόλεμο
28/06/2012

Ιστορική χειραψία με τον πρώην διοικητή του Ιρλανδικού Δημοκρατικού Στρατού (IRA) Μάρτιν Μακγκίνες αντάλλαξε χθες, για πρώτη φορά, η βασίλισσα Ελισάβετ.

Ο συμβολισμός όσον αφορά στο τέλος μιας σύγκρουσης που κόστισε τις ζωές χιλιάδων στρατιωτών και πολιτών, περιλαμβανομένης αυτής του εξαδέλφου της βασίλισσας Ελισάβετ, του Λόρδου Μαουντμπάντεν, ήταν σαφής.

Η συνάντηση με τον Μακγκίνες, ο οποίος είναι τώρα ο αντιπρόεδρος της τοπικής κυβέρνησης της Βόρειας Ιρλανδίας, πραγματοποιείται 14 χρόνια από τότε που ο IRA κήρυξε ανακωχή, βάζοντας τέρμα τον πόλεμο εναντίον της βρετανικής κυριαρχίας στην επαρχία και είναι ένα από τα τελευταία μεγάλα ορόσημα σε μια ειρηνευτική διαδικασία, η επιτυχία της οποίας θεωρήθηκε πρότυπο για τον κόσμο.

Η χειραψία, που συμβολίζει τη συμφιλίωση στη βρετανική επαρχία της Βόρειας Ιρλανδίας, πραγματοποιήθηκε κεκλεισμένων των θυρών σε ένα θέατρο του Μπέλφαστ κατά τη δεύτερη ημέρα της επίσκεψης της βασίλισσας.    www.elzoni.gr

ΖΟΦΕΡΟΙ ΟΙ ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΥΦΕΣΗΣ ΣΕ ΙΣΠΑΝΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΓΑΛΛΙΑ, Οικονομία, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΗ ΖΩΝΗ

ΖΟΦΕΡΟΙ ΟΙ ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΥΦΕΣΗΣ ΣΕ ΙΣΠΑΝΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΓΑΛΛΙΑ, Οικονομία, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΗ ΖΩΝΗ

Δώστε χρόνο στην Ελλάδα, Οικονομία, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΗ ΖΩΝΗ

Δώστε χρόνο στην Ελλάδα, Οικονομία, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΗ ΖΩΝΗ
Να κλείσει εδώ και τώρα η συζήτηση για τις off-shore
28/06/2012

Γράφει η Σοφία Βούλτεψη
Δύο απόψεις συγκρούονται από τον καιρό που… υπάρχουν υπουργικά συμβούλια.

Σύμφωνα με τη μία, υπουργός σε ένα υπουργείο πρέπει να αναλαμβάνει «άνθρωπος του χώρου», «που γνωρίζει τα προβλήματα», «που γνωρίζει πρόσωπα και πράγματα».

Σύμφωνα με τη δεύτερη, ο υπουργός δεν πρέπει να έχει καμιά σχέση με το αντικείμενο του υπουργείου που αναλαμβάνει – αρκούν οι προσωπικές ικανότητες και γνώσεις, το πολιτικό φιλότιμο, η κοινή λογική και η ικανότητα επιλογής συμβούλων και συνεργατών.

Εδώ και πολλά χρόνια, έχω συνταχθεί με τη δεύτερη άποψη.

Όχι μόνο επειδή, αν ίσχυε η πρώτη, με την πολιτική θα ασχολούνταν μόνο συγκεκριμένες επαγγελματικές τάξεις – οικονομολόγοι, γιατροί, μηχανικοί, περιβαλλοντολόγοι, δικηγόροι, καθηγητές και ούτω καθεξής.

Αλλά και επειδή οι «άνθρωποι του χώρου» κουβαλάνε πολλές ιδεοληψίες, προσωπικές αντεκδικήσεις, επαγγελματικές δουλείες και συγκρούσεις, γραφειοκρατικές εμμονές και συνδικαλιστικού τύπου πελατειακές σχέσεις.

Θα ήταν ανόητο, για παράδειγμα, να ισχυριστεί κανείς πως αρκεί ένας δημοσιογράφος να γνωρίζει πρόσωπα και πράγματα στον χώρο του Τύπου για να αναλάβει να μιλά επί παντός επιστητού, ακόμη και αν δεν έχει την παραμικρή γνώση περί οικονομίας, εξωτερικής πολιτικής ή δημόσιας διοίκησης.

Και το αντίθετο: Θα ήταν πολύ επικίνδυνο ένας τεχνοκράτης της οικονομίας να πάρει στα χέρια του την τύχη μιας χώρας, χωρίς να έχει την παραμικρή σχέση και επικοινωνία με τον λαό της.

Δεν είναι τόσο απλά τα πράγματα.

Αν ήταν (απλά), τότε δεν θα είχαμε παρά να βάλουμε έναν δικαστή στο υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης, έναν γιατρό στο Υγείας, έναν καθηγητή στο Παιδείας, έναν εφοπλιστή στο Ναυτιλίας, έναν ανώτερο δημόσιο υπάλληλο στο Εσωτερικών και πάει λέγοντας.

Θα λύναμε έτσι όλα μας τα προβλήματα.

Η πολιτική, όμως, είναι πολύ πιο σύνθετη διαδικασία.

Ο ικανός και ο εργατικός, αυτός που έχει γνώσεις και εμπειρία, αυτός που θέλει να προσφέρει στην πατρίδα του, αυτός που διαθέτει ευελιξία και προσαρμοστικότητα, μπορεί να αποδώσει σε οποιονδήποτε τομέα.

Όπως έχουμε ξαναπεί, η τεχνοκρατική αντιμετώπιση μιας έκτακτης κατάστασης μπορεί να γίνει ανεκτή, αλλά για όσο διάστημα απαιτείται για να δρομολογηθούν τα πράγματα.

Διαφορετικά, το φάρμακο που θεραπεύει, θα γίνει δηλητήριο που σκοτώνει.

Υπό αυτήν την έννοια – και επειδή η περίπτωση Βερνίκου αντιμετωπίστηκε ως αποκλεισμός μιας κατηγορίας επαγγελματιών από την πολιτική – ένας εφοπλιστής μπορεί να ασχοληθεί με την πολιτική, αλλά όχι υποχρεωτικά στο υπουργείο Ναυτιλίας.

Φυσικά, αυτό προσκρούει στον νόμο (3849/10, παρ. 6), με τον οποίο τροποποιήθηκε ο νόμος 3213/2003, που απαγορεύει συμμετοχή σε εξωχώριες εταιρίες στα μέλη της Κυβέρνησης, στους Υφυπουργούς, στους αρχηγούς των πολιτικών κομμάτων που εκπροσωπούνται στο Εθνικό ή το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, στους βουλευτές και ευρωβουλευτές, στον γενικό γραμματέα του Υπουργικού Συμβουλίου, στους γενικούς και ειδικούς γραμματείς Υπουργείων, στους γενικούς γραμματείς περιφερειών, στους προέδρους των διευρυμένων νομαρχιακών αυτοδιοικήσεων, στους νομάρχες και τους δημάρχους, στους δικαστικούς και εισαγγελικούς λειτουργούς, στους προέδρους, διοικητές, υποδιοικητές και γενικούς διευθυντές πιστωτικών ιδρυμάτων, που ελέγχονται από το κράτος, καθώς επίσης στα πρόσωπα των περιπτώσεων θ΄ και ι΄ της παραγράφου 1 του άρθρου 1 απαγορεύεται να συμμετέχουν είτε οι ίδιοι είτε με παρένθετα πρόσωπα στο κεφάλαιο ή στη διοίκηση εξωχώριων εταιρειών. 

Μάλιστα, η κατά παράβαση της παραγράφου 1 άμεση ή έμμεση συμμετοχή σε εξωχώρια εταιρεία τιμωρείται με φυλάκιση τουλάχιστον δύο (2) ετών και με χρηματική ποινή από δέκα χιλιάδες (10.000) ευρώ έως πεντακόσιες χιλιάδες (500.000) ευρώ.

Επιπλέον, επειδή ετέθησαν και άλλα θέματα, υπάρχει και μια άλλη διάταξη, σύμφωνα με την οποία «άγνοια νόμου απαγορεύεται».  

Φυσικά, έχουν γίνει τόσες πολλές αλλαγές στους νόμους περί πολιτικού χρήματος (σε μια προσπάθεια να αντιμετωπιστεί το περίφημο άρθρο 86 του Συντάγματος) που πλέον έχουμε χάσει και τα αυγά και τα καλάθια. 

Φαίνεται ότι τους έχουν ξεχάσει ακόμη και… αυτοί που τους ψήφισαν!

Ένας απίστευτος νομοπληθωρισμός, που παρ’ όλα αυτά δεν έχει οδηγήσει σε κανέναν κολασμό (εξαιρουμένης της περίπτωσης Τσοχατζόπουλου που αποτελεί την εξαίρεση η οποία επιβεβαιώνει τον κανόνα).

Από εκεί, όμως, μέχρι να καταβάλλεται προσπάθεια δημιουργίας νέας πεποίθησης, σύμφωνα με την οποία η ψήφιση του συγκεκριμένου νόμου (από ευρεία κοινοβουλευτική πλειοψηφία) ήταν λάθος, υπάρχει μεγάλη απόσταση.

Οι εξωχώριες εταιρίες, οι γνωστές off-shore, είναι το καταφύγιο των παρανόμων.

Αν αυτό δεν ισχύει στην περίπτωση των ναυτιλιακών εταιριών, δεν σημαίνει ότι ο νόμος πρέπει να καταργηθεί.

Ούτε είναι δυνατόν να υπάρξουν εξαιρέσεις, διότι σ’ αυτήν την περίπτωση είναι βέβαιο ότι κάποιοι θα έσπευδαν να δραστηριοποιηθούν επαγγελματικά στον χώρο της ναυτιλίας ή να αγοράσουν μετοχές σε μια ναυτιλιακή εταιρία.

Είναι απαράδεκτο – επειδή δημιουργήθηκε μια εμπλοκή – να ξεχνάμε πως όλες οι βρώμικες δουλειές (θυμηθείτε την Torcasso) μέσω τέτοιων off-shore έχουν γίνει.

Δεν είναι δυνατόν, με αφορμή ένα ατυχές περιστατικό που θεωρείται πλέον λήξαν, να ακούγονται φωνές περί επιστροφής σε αλήστου μνήμης εποχές.

Δεν είναι δυνατόν να ξεχνούμε ότι τον Οκτώβριο του 2000 εκχωρήθηκαν μελλοντικά έσοδα του Δημοσίου από το Γ’ ΚΠΣ συνολικού ύψους 2 δις ευρώ (για την περίοδο ως τον Ιανουάριο 2007), στις off-shore εταιρίες με τα αρχαιοπρεπή ονόματα «Αίολος», «Αριάδνη» και «Άτλας» με έδρα το Λουξεμβούργο, στις οποίες καταβλήθηκαν προμήθειες ύψους 7 δις δρχ. 

Δεν είναι δυνατόν να ξεχνούμε ότι με τον ίδιο τρόπο εκχωρήθηκαν μελλοντικά έσοδα από τα κρατικά λαχεία και το Γιουροκοντρόλ, τα οποία προεισπράχθηκαν.

Ούτε πως δια της συγκεκριμένης εκχώρησης δεσμεύθηκαν εθνικοί πόροι για 5, 10 και 19 χρόνια, που αντιστοιχούσαν  στις επόμενες πέντε κυβερνήσεις και στις επόμενες γενιές. 

Εδώ βρισκόμαστε τώρα. Σε μια από εκείνες τις κυβερνήσεις που δεν έχει ευρώ στα ταμεία της, ενώ κάποιοι άλλοι είχαν προεισπράξει με τοκογλυφικό τρόπο και μέσω off-shore τα έσοδα που θα λαμβάναμε τώρα.

Συμπέρασμα: Αρκετά έχουμε πάθει. Κάποτε πρέπει και να μάθουμε.

Και να μην λέμε ό,τι μας κατέβει, ανάλογα με το πού φυσάει ο άνεμος.

Διαφορετικά, με αφορμή το γνωστό ατυχές περιστατικό, θα καταλήξουμε να κραυγάζουμε «Κάτω τα χέρια από τις off-shore»!                                 www.elzoni.gr

Tuesday, June 26, 2012


Euro coin standing on an EU flag

EUROPEAN UNION

Economists doubt the value of the EU fiscal pact

For some, the EU's fiscal pact is German Chancellor Angela Merkel's biggest crisis-managing achievement. Others say it runs foul of the constitution. Many economists also aren't convinced, but for different reasons.
As perhaps the eurozone's top crisis manager, German Chancellor Angela Merkel views the excessive debt run up by some countries as the real reason behind the EU's current fiscal woes. She aims to prevent financial crises of that magnitude in the future by enforcing more budget discipline on member states with the new fiscal pact.
There was widespread applause for the idea when it was approved last year by 25 of the 27 EU member countries. After all, it sent a signal to the super-nervous financial markets that Europeans can get their act together. But has that message ever arrived?
Markets not convinced
"The fiscal pact's credibility on the markets is next to zero," Deka-Bank Chief Economist Ulrich Kater said at a meeting of the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, Germany. He argues that the perception on the markets as to what the new European fiscal cooperation can achieve is different from what policymakers think it is.
The pact imposes fiscal regulations which are tougher than those included in the Maastricht treaty, the founding accord of the single currency union. Under the new fiscal pact, which comes into effect in 2013, signatories will only be allowed to increase their borrowing by 0.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product a year, compared with a maximum of 3.0 percent at present.
Red herring?
So has the German policy of budget consolidation become an export hit? Far from it, says Clemens Fuest of Oxford University, who advises the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.
"The advantage of the fiscal pact was extremely short-lived: it just meant that people could talk about something other than eurobonds," Fuest argued.
Franz
Franz says the fiscal pact has its merits too
Germans shy away from such bonds: They would be issued jointly by the countries in the eurozone, and that would mean that all of them would be liable for each other's debts. So is the fiscal pact just a red herring to draw attention away from something the Germans wouldn't like?
Not quite. The president of the ZEW, Wolfgang Franz, sees some good in it, for example, its mechanism of sanctions against underperformers. Under the pact, the European Commission would propose sanctions in the event a nation exceeds the agreed debt limit, and those sanctions can only be prevented by a majority of the bloc's economics and finance ministers. "This means there will be a higher likelihood of sanctions actually being imposed," Franz said.
Up to now, it's been the other way round: under the Maastricht treaty, sanctions have had to be positively approved by a majority of ministers. But with sinners judging sinners, no sanctions have been approved, although deficit criteria have been breached on 88 occasions. Germany is scarcely entitled to point the finger at others, since it was among the first nations to violate the Maastricht treaty's deficit rules.
Keeping the Germans quiet?
But what's the use of stricter rules if even the laxer ones haven't been implemented? The president of the Ifo economic think tank, Hans-Werner Sinn, is highly critical.
"The pact is nothing but a sedative pill for the German people which the government is offering them to get them to agree to its opening its purse," Sinn maintained.
He isn't a big fan of the new sanctions either. He says he cannot imagine proceedings ever being initiated against, say, France to punish it for excessive spending: "That's simply pulling the wool over people's eyes."
A case of blackmail?
Fuest
Fuest believes the fiscal pact is a product of blackmail
Following initial resistance, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed the fiscal pact as a joint Franco-German project. But since the election victory of Socialist Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has had to listen to a different tune coming from Paris. Even though Hollande hasn't insisted on renegotiating the pact, he wants to see economic stimulus measures attached to it. And this is what will be agreed at the upcoming EU summit.
So is the pact out of date before it's even come into effect? "If you take a look at Italian or French newspapers, you understand that the Fiscal Pact is being viewed as irrelevant and as blackmail," says Clemens Fuest.
In the Irish referendum on the pact, the majority voted yes, but only out of fear that funds from the European Stability Mechanism would otherwise run dry. Berlin has seen to it that there'll be no more rescue packages for countries which don't join the fiscal pact.
"You can figure yourself how seriously people will take the pact in the long run if it only came about through blackmail," Fuest concluded.
Author: Zhang Danhong / hg
Editor: Michael Lawton                                                                     DW DE

To Fill New Vacancy, Greece Appoints Economist to Finance Minister Post



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ATHENS — The Greek government moved swiftly Tuesday to shore up its unraveling cabinet ahead of crucial talks with its international lenders, appointing a new finance minister with vast economic experience whose main aim is to keep Greece within the euro zone.
Giannis Panagopoulos/Eurokinissi, via Associated Press
Yannis Stournaras said he was optimistic about his new job despite the difficulties the country faces.
Multimedia
Prime Minister Antonis Samarastapped Yannis Stournaras, the leader of an influential Greek nonprofit economic research group, to take the job a day after the man originally designated to assume the post, Vassilis Rapanos, chairman of the National Bank of Greece, resigned before he could be sworn in, citing health problems.
Mr. Rapanos, whose resignation threw new uncertainty into Greece’s leadership less than a week after a new government was installed, was released from the hospital on Tuesday.
An energetic, loquacious man who enjoys an almost rock-star status in national economic circles, Mr. Stournaras, 55, has been an adviser to the Finance Ministry and the country’s central bank and a consultant to previous Socialist governments, including that of Prime Minister Costas Simitis, under whom Greece’s entry into the euro zone was secured.
One of the few Greek economists who is seen as operating largely above partisan politics, Mr. Stournaras and his group, the Foundation for Industrial and Economic Research, have been a go-to source for Greece’s lenders seeking unvarnished assessments about the true state of the economy. His telephone number is one of the first dialed by members of the “troika” — the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank — when they want a readout on how things are faring, said an official familiar with the lenders’ thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.
“He is a person who can inspire respect and trust in negotiating crucial economic issues with the troika,” said Basil Dalamagas, an economics professor at the University of Athens, where Mr. Stournaras has taught macroeconomics since 1989.
One of Mr. Stournaras’s first tasks will be to talk formally with Greece’s lenders. Mr. Samaras won his recent election victory on pledges to push back some of the more onerous austerity requirements attached to the country’s $170 billion bailout.
Mr. Stournaras will have to immediately find more than $14 billion worth of cuts to meet the bailout terms.
He will need to figure out how to replenish the government’s fast-dwindling treasury at a time when the economy has contracted more than 6 percent and unemployment has reached 22 percent.
The urgency of the situation hit home Tuesday around 12:45 p.m., less than 12 hours after Mr. Rapanos resigned. Mr. Stournaras, who was at a book presentation in central Athens, received a call from Mr. Samaras asking him to take the position. “He told us he had just received a call saying, ‘Don’t you dare say no,’ ” said Raphael Moissis, the deputy head of the research group, who was present.
Speaking at the book presentation, Mr. Stournaras said he was optimistic about his new job despite the difficulties. “I think there are possibilities for Greece to emerge from the crisis,” he said. “Greece has enormous potential, but we must pass through a wall of established ways of thinking if Greece is to change.”
The new finance minister, who has yet to be sworn in, will not travel to a European Union leaders’ summit meeting on Thursday, where his predecessor, George Zanias, the departing caretaker finance minister, will represent Greece as part of a delegation led by President Karolos Papoulias. The president is standing in for Mr. Samaras, who has been advised against traveling after an operation for a detached retina.
Meanwhile, in the latest blow to Greece’s fragile new government, Giorgos Vernikos, deputy minister for Greece’s merchant marine ministry, resigned Tuesday. The reason was not given, but the news came a few hours after the leftist opposition party Syriza issued a statement saying that there was a conflict of interest, citing the minister’s involvement with an offshore business.
Mr. Samaras met his coalition partners — Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the Socialist Pasok party, and Fotis Kouvelis, chief of the Democratic Left — along with Mr. Stournaras on Tuesday evening to discuss the political situation and strategy ahead of the summit meeting.
Leaving the meeting, Mr. Stournaras promised “hard work” but refused to respond to reporters’ questions about the type of fiscal policies he was planning to carry out or his thoughts ahead of a visit by officials representing Greece’s international creditors, who will consider its request for the easing of some of the terms of the debt deal.
While he has condemned across-the-board austerity measures for deepening Greece’s economic troubles and defeating the overall goal of mending the nation’s finances, Mr. Stournaras has also long insisted that the only way Greece can get back on its feet is to pursue the types of unpalatable structural reforms that Greece’s lenders are pressing on the nation.
For instance, he has argued that Greece could add 15 percent to its gross domestic product over time if the government would seriously enforce reforms, like opening up protected jobs — including those of lawyers, taxi drivers and notaries — to free-market competition. He has urged freeing up capital for the shipping industry and pressing ahead with targeted reductions throughout Greece’s bloated government.
At a time when Greeks have seen their salaries cut by up to 50 percent and unemployment soar, those formulas may not sit well with the public.
Still, Mr. Stournaras was one of the sole voices to have warned back in 2009 — the year before Greece’s first bailout — that the policies of consumption and borrowing being pursued to pump up Greece’s economy were swiftly leading it toward a precipice.
These days, he has also been calling on Germany to stop resisting euro bonds, a move that many economists say would help stem the spread of Europe’s long-running debt crisis. And he has signaled a desire to push ahead with privatizations of a number of state assets, including vast tracts of idle land owned by the state. Such a move could raise billions of euros to replenish Greece’s coffers.
If Mr. Stournaras does things right and inspires confidence, Mr. Moissis said, good things might happen for Greece. “If you take away the lack of confidence that has plagued Greece, there are good investments to be made, and the cost of labor is being controlled,” he said. “If we can get confidence in his fellow ministers, too, we could get some surprises.”

Niki Kitsantonis contributed reporting.                   N Y  Times