Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-04-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Thursday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[03] Historic accession treaty signing sets seal on European enlargement

[04] EU leaders seek draft constitutional treaty for Europe by June

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Thursday

Cloudy weather is forecast in all parts of the country, with rain or storms likely in the southern Ionian, the Peloponnese, the Cyclades and Crete. Winds variable, light to moderate to very strong, turning gale force in parts of the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 7C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 9C to 21C; and in the Aegean islands from 12C to 18C. Temperatures in Athens between 11C and 19C; and in Thessaloniki from 7C to 18C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.092

Pound sterling 0.693

Danish kroner 7.484

Swedish kroner 9.230

Japanese yen 131.4

Swiss franc 1.514

Norwegian kroner 7.901

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.580

Australian dollar 1.786

[03] Historic accession treaty signing sets seal on European enlargement

The official seal on the European Union's enlargement to 25 member-states was set in Athens on Wednesday, in a historic ceremony for the signing of accession treaties with the Union's 10 new member-states beneath the clear Attic skies and the Athens Acropolis.

The leaders of the 15 EU member-states and the 10 candidate-countries were joined by Greek President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis in the Attalus Arcade where they signed the 5,000-page treaty that enlarges the Union to 25 members.

Speaking first at the ceremony, Greek Prime Minister and EU Council President Costas Simitis spoke of a historic day in which Europe could overcome its division into two opposing camps, Eastern and Western Europe, that were a legacy of the Second World War since nearly all European countries now participated in the EU.

This unified whole was inspired by the principles and values which inspired the struggles of our societies for freedom, democracy and social justice, he added.

The Greek premier said the enlarged Union created new obligations to further advance the process of unification and to give the configuration the EU had created more complete form and content, especially with respect to external policy, security and defence, that would allow the EU to play the role it aspired to.

The rest of the 25 EU leaders each delivered a three-minute speech at the ceremony.

In his speech, Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos said a ''new chapter was opening in a Europe reborn'' and stressed that the island republic's EU accession would not import the Cyprus problem into the Union nor cause Cyprus to ease up efforts for a final solution to the political problem.

''We regret the artificial barriers that prevent the Turkish Cypriot citizens from accompanying us in a united Cyprus towards the road to Europe. I reaffirm my unwavering commitment to finding a peaceful, functional and viable solution to the Cyprus problem,'' he said in his address.

Cyprus was committed to fulfilling all its obligations emanating from EU membership, he said, and promised to redouble efforts ''to bring an end to our country's situation, which is the only divided nation in Europe.''

[04] EU leaders seek draft constitutional treaty for Europe by June

The thorny issue of a European Union constitution, whose first draft the Convention for the Future of Europe has pledged to produce by the time EU leaders return to Greece for the Thessaloniki summit in June, dominated an informal meeting of the European Council in Athens on Wednesday.

At a press conference after the summit, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, current EU president, European Commission President Romano Prodi, Convention for the Future of Europe president Valery Giscard d' Estaing and EU high representative for common defence and security policy Javier Solana reported on the results of the meeting and said that the Community was on track with reforms to EU institutions in light of enlargement, despite differences among member-states.

Simitis said the aim of the meeting had been to hear the points of view of the 25 member-states regarding the reform of the Union's institutions, not to decide what should be done. He noted that the discussion on the Convention for the Future of Europe had been originally scheduled for March but had been postponed due to events in Iraq.

''We agreed that Mr. Valery Giscard d'Estaing should present during the summit in Thessaloniki on June 20 the draft of the Constitutional Treaty,'' Simitis said.

He said that five central issues regarding EU institutional reforms had been presented and that there had been general agreement on some but also disagreements on others.

''The time is short, thus the result may not be the best possible. During the Summit in Thessaloniki we will decide when the intergovernmental conference will meet and with what mandate,'' Simitis said.

He also noted that Wednesday's council had given the 10 new member-states an opportunity to participate and present their views for the first time, though there had been both agreements and disagreements.

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