Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-07-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] French envoy speaks at FM event

[02] Inflation remains at 4.9% in June

[01] French envoy speaks at FM event

Amb. Christophe Farnaud was the guest speaker at an "Ambassadors' Forum" event held at the foreign ministry building on Monday, as the event was inaugurated by Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis herself.

"The French presidency will not be easy. Its assumption comes at a crucial juncture that deals not only with the Lisbon Treaty, but also with the international economic crisis. However, Greece continues to believe that we need more and not less of Europe," Bakoyannis reiterated, while stressing that Athens will give Paris its full support.

On his part, Farnaud referred to a triptych of "realism, collective efforts and answers to citizens' questions".

He added that issues expected to dominate the French EU agenda are European defence, as a supplement to NATO, the ambitious French proposal for a Mediterranean Union "that will accompany and provide an new push to the Barcelona Process", as the envoy said.

The French ambassador noted that the idea of a Med Union translates into specific initiatives for linking seaways, dealing with pollution in the Mediterranean, fighting illegal immigration and expanding the use of renewable sources of energy, among others.

Asked about the effect of Ireland's "no" to the Lisbon Treaty, Farnaud agreed that it was a significant development, while cautioning against any "demonisation" of the Irish voters.

On the same issue, Bakoyannis said a "breakthrough exists when there is political volition ... otherwise we will be led in very negative directions."

Additionally, the Greek FM said the French EU presidency's priorities meet the Union's contemporary challenges, such as climate change, the Common Agriculture Policy, development of a maritime policy and greater cooperation to deal with immigration and illegal immigration, "where Greece is facing unprecedented situations", as she said.

Caption: French ambassador to Greece Christophe Farnaud speaks at the "Ambassadors' Forum" event at the foreign ministry in Athens on Monday, July 7, 2008. ANA-MPA / M. KIAOU.

[02] Inflation remains at 4.9% in June

Commenting on the figures, NSS secretary-general Manolis Kontopyrakis said the 4.9 pct reading of the consumer's price index reflected a decline in vegetable and fruit prices and stable prices in supermarkets, despite a 3.9 pct increase in the price of petrol.

The statistics service said the consumer's price index rose by an average 4.48 pct in the first half of 2008, up from a 2.62 pct average increase in the corresponding period last year.

The 4.9 pct inflation rate in June, reflected a 6.0 pct increase in food and beverage prices, a 10.2 pct rise in housing prices, a 6.6 pct increase in transportation prices, a 3.7 pct rise in healthcare prices and rises of 3.1 pct and 3.2 pct in durable goods and clothing/footwear prices respectively.

Hotel, coffee, restaurant prices rose 5.6 pct, education prices were up 4.6 pct and alcohol/tobacco prices rose 2.2 pct in June, compared with the same month last year.

Greece's harmonised inflation rate was 4.9 pct in June, unchanged from May, while the core inflation eased to 4.0 pct in June from 4.2 pct in May. Average core inflation was 3.6 pct in the first six months of 2008, up from 2.6 pct last year.

Kontopyrakis, once again, stressed that any prediction over the course of the inflation rate in July was impossible because of volatility in oil prices and international financial markets.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo.

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