Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-03-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM briefed on tourism-related actions, programmes

[02] University reform bill passed by com't

[01] PM briefed on tourism-related actions, programmes

In statements to reporters afterwards, Petralia said the signs for the current year in tourism appeared to be good.

"At the tourism development ministry we have presented the "tourism charter" on a regional basis, because we consider that it is the goal and purpose of every region, every prefecture and every municipality, since it is an element of economic growth in every area," Petralia underlined.

During the meeting with Karamanlis, the minister also outlined the progress of an initiative to create 35 kilometres of cycle paths and promenades along the Athens coast, from the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Faliro up to the seaside resort of Varkiza, that is gradually beginning.

"Athens, the Attic basin must reach out to the sea and must breathe. This is an ambitious project that we are planning and in the coming period I will meet with the mayors of those areas, so that we can have a final study and go ahead with implementation," she said.

Petralia underlined that her own ministry also had alot of work ahead in order to achieve its goal of extending the tourist season, which would be its programme for the current summer, autumn and upcoming winter seasons.

Caption: The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, extreme southeast Attica prefecture, is illuminated in this file photo dated Aug. 11, 2004, two days before the start of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. ANA-MPA / V. Vardoulakis.

[02] University reform bill passed by com't

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Education Minister Spyros Taliadouros said "a simple comparison between the proposals presented by the government for discussion last June and today's bill shows that dialogue did take place and that proposals were included."

Taliadouros added that "the draft law is the product of extensive dialogue, it has a specific issue, it is part of an overall strategic planning, it comes to link funding in the framework of four-year planning with a binding agreement."

Earlier, representatives of university rectors and higher education foundation presidents on Wednesday mostly expressed positive comments over a draft bill proposed by the education ministry, speaking before Parliament's educational affairs committee.

At least two speakers stressed that the bill includes quite a few proposals which the bodies themselves have proposed, whereas further clarifications are needed to define the state's obligations towards the foundations.

Education Minister Marietta Yiannakou accepted a request by rectors' and presidents' representatives for foundations to determine themselves, within the framework of their four-year planning, the number of new admissions that can be absorbed on a yearly basis.

Conversely, former PASOK minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis called for greater efforts by the government to achieve a consensus for such reforms, while former Parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis said he did not believe the measures would improve the situation in universities, especially in terms of the asylum regime.

Representatives of Parliament's two leftist parties, the Communist Party (KKE) and the Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) again voiced their absolute opposition to the bill, with Synaspismos leader Alekos Alavanos, in fact, criticising the fact that more representatives from student groups were not called to testify.

On his part, the president of the university professors' union, Lazaros Apekis, refused to voice his views, calling the process, as he said, "only for appearance's sake". His only action was to submit a memorandum of stating the union's positions.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Greece's Parliament, as seen from Ermou Street.

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