DOCSLIB.ORG

European Economy. 3/2004. Public Finances In

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
European Economy. 3/2004. Public Finances In ISSN 0379-0991 10 KC-AR-04-003-EN-C EUROPEAN ECONOMY EUROPEAN No 3 / 2004 EUROPEAN ECONOMY EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS Price (excluding VAT) in Luxembourg: EUR 50 European Economy (6 issues minimum per year): EUR 150 The annual subscription runs from 1 January to 31 December of each year. Payments to be made only to sales agents on the list (see inside back cover for details). These are surface mail rates; for air subscription rates please apply to the sales offices. No 3 / 2004 http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance ISBN 92-894-4958-6 Public finances in EMU ,!7IJ2I9-eejfii! 2004 SALES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Publications for sale produced by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities are available from our sales agents throughout the world. How do I set about obtaining a publication? Once you have obtained the list of sales agents, contact the sales agent of your choice and place your order. How do I obtain the list of sales agents? x Go to the Publications Office website at http://publications.eu.int/ x Or apply for a paper copy by fax: (352) 2929 42758 European Economy appears six times a year. It contains important reports and communications from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament on the economic situation and developments ranging from the Broad economic policy guidelines and its implementation report to the Economic forecasts, the EU Economic review and the Public finance report. As a complement, Special reports focus on problems concerning economic policy. Subscription terms are shown on the back cover and details on how to obtain the list of sales agents are shown on the inside back cover. Unless otherwise indicated, the texts are published under the responsibility of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, BU1, B-1049 Brussels, to which enquiries other than those related to sales and subscriptions should be addressed. European Commission EUROPEAN ECONOMY Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs 2004 Number 3 © European Communities, 2004 Printed in Belgium Public finances in EMU — 2004 Abbreviations and symbols used Member States BE Belgium CZ Czech Republic DK Denmark DE Germany EE Estonia EL Greece ES Spain FR France IE Ireland IT Italy CY Cyprus LV Latvia LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg HU Hungary MT Malta NL The Netherlands AT Austria PL Poland PT Portugal SI Slovenia SK Slovakia FI Finland SE Sweden UK United Kingdom EUR-12 European Union Member States having adopted the single currency (BE, DE, EL, ES, FR, IE, IT, LU, NL, AU, PT, FI), i.e. countries participating in economic and monetary union without a derogation EUR-11 EUR-12 excluding LU EU-25 European Union, 25 Member States EU-15 European Union, 15 Member States before 1 May 2004 (EUR-12 plus DK, SE and UK) EU-14 EU-15 excluding LU EU-10 European Union, 10 Member States that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 (CZ, EE, CY, LV, LT, HU, MT, PL, SI, SK) Currencies EUR euro ECU European currency unit DKK Danish krone GBP Pound sterling SEK Swedish krona CAD Canadian dollar CHF Swiss franc JPY Japanese yen SUR Russian rouble USD US dollar iv Other abbreviations bn, billion 1 000 million CEECs Central and east European countries CPI consumer price index EC European Commission ECB European Central Bank ECSC European Coal and Steel Community EDF European Development Fund EIB European Investment Bank EMCF European Monetary Cooperation Fund EMS European monetary system EMU economic and monetary union ERM exchange rate mechanism Euratom European Atomic Energy Community Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Communities FDI foreign direct investment GDP (GNP) gross domestic (national) product GFCF gross fixed capital formation HICP harmonised index of consumer prices ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Fund LDCs less developed countries Mio million Mrd 1 000 million NCI New Community Instrument NMS new Member State OCTs overseas countries and territories OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries PEP pre-accession economic programmes PPS purchasing power standard SCP stability and convergence programmes SGP Stability and Growth Pact qoq quarter-on-quarter percentage change SMEs small and medium-sized enterprises VATvalue added tax yoyyear-on-year percentage change : not available – none v Acknowledgements This report was prepared in the Directorate-General of Economic and Financial Affairs under the direction of Klaus Regling, Director-General, and Servaas Deroose, Director for the Economy of the Euro Area and the Union. The main contributors were Elena Flores, Gabriele Giudice, Karine Jabet, Andrea Montanino, Marko Mršnik, Ales- sandro Turrini and Peter Wierts. Specific contributions were provided by Juan Ramon Calaf Sole, Jonas Fischer, Dermot Hodson, Sven Langedijk, Martin Larch, Jerome Lefebvre, João Nogueira Martins, Andreja Poje, Jan In ‘T Veld and Johan Verhaeven. The coun- try chapters in Part V were prepared in the Directorate for the Economies of the Member States under the responsibility of Marco Buti. The contributors were Ronald Albers, Joaquim Ayuso Casals, Georg Busch, Juan Ramon Calaf Sole, Zdeněk Čech, Nikoloas Chryssanthou, Nathalie Darnaut, Francisco de Castro Fernández, Per Eckefeldt, Luis Fau Se- bastian, Mans Hector, Timo Hirvonen, Heinz Jansen, Barbara Kauffmann, Filip Keereman, Viktoria Kovacs, Martin Larch, John Macdonald, Madeleine Mahovsky, João Medeiros, Carlos Martinez Mongay, Jens Matthiessen, Mare Mo- ra, Laurent Moulin, Willem Noë, Lucio R. Pench, Mateja Peternelj, Hervé Piffeteau, Elena Reitano, Peer Ritter, José Luis Robledo Fraga, Richard Salt, Agnieszka Skuratowicz, Siegfried Steinlein, Charlotte Van Hooydonk, Kristine Vlagsma, Helga Vogelmann. Statistical and editorial assistance was provided by Fabrizio Melcarne. Comments and suggestions by colleagues in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs as well as by other services of the Commission are gratefully acknowledged. Secretarial support was provided by Maria Davi-Pilato and Aliki Drossou. Comments on the report would be gratefully received and should be sent to: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs Public Finance Unit, with particular reference to the euro zone European Commission B-1049 Brussels or by e-mail to [email protected] vi Contents Summary and main conclusions . 1 Part I: Current developments and prospects . 9 1. Budgetary developments in the euro area and EU Member States. 13 1.1. Short-term developments and prospects for the budget balance and public debt . 13 1.2. Government revenue and expenditure . 16 1.3. The fiscal stance and policy-mix . 17 2. Overview of the 2003 updates of the stability and convergence programmes . 23 2.1. The medium-term budgetary targets . 23 2.2. Composition of the budgetary adjustment . 27 3. Overview of the 2003 updates of the pre-accession economic programmes and the 2004 convergence programmes . 32 3.1. Introduction . 32 3.2. 2003 updates of the pre-accession economic programmes . 32 3.3. 2004 convergence programmes . 38 4. The sustainability of public finances based on the 2003 updates of stability and convergence programmes 42 4.1. Introduction . 42 4.2. How the sustainability of public finances was assessed . .42 4.3. Policy conclusions per Member State . 49 4.4. Conclusion . 52 Part II: Evolving budgetary surveillance . 53 1. Moving towards a clearer and more effective framework . 58 1.1. A sound framework which needs strengthening . .58 1.2. Developments in the coordination of budgetary policies. 59 1.3. The strategy pursued after the events of 25 November . 60 2. Implementing the Stability and Growth Pact . 63 2.1. Introduction . 63 2.2. The implementation of the EDP for euro-area countries in excessive deficit . 63 2.3. The surveillance mechanisms since spring 2003 . 65 2.4. The application of the excessive deficit procedure to the 10 new Member States . 74 3. Improving the analysis of budgetary developments . 80 3.1. Introduction . 80 3.2. Non-cyclical temporary budgetary effects. 80 3.3. The use and interpretation of cyclically adjusted balances . .86 vii 4. Budgetary risks and contingent liabilities. 94 4.1. Introduction . 94 4.2. A taxonomy of government liabilities . 95 4.3. Sources of budgetary risk . 98 4.4. Why risk matters for government finances . 101 4.5. Monitoring and containing budgetary risks. 102 5. Increasing the focus on debt and economic developments. 106 5.1. Introduction . 106 5.2. A prudent reference value for the debt . 107 5.3. An assessment of debt developments . 109 5.4. Strengthening economic surveillance by jointly assessing deficit and debt developments. 114 5.5. How can debt developments be better considered in the numerical rules? . 117 5.6. Conclusions . 121 6. Integrating the budgetary processes . 125 6.1. Introduction . 125 6.2. Moving to a proper EU semester . 126 6.3. Strengthening the national budgetary surveillance and performance . 127 7. Conclusions. ..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Clientelism and Economic Policy: Hybrid Characteristics of Collective Action in Greece
    Journal of European Public Policy ISSN: 1350-1763 (Print) 1466-4429 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjpp20 Clientelism and economic policy: hybrid characteristics of collective action in Greece Aris Trantidis To cite this article: Aris Trantidis (2015): Clientelism and economic policy: hybrid characteristics of collective action in Greece, Journal of European Public Policy, DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2015.1088564 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2015.1088564 Published online: 11 Nov 2015. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 125 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rjpp20 Download by: [George Mason University] Date: 18 May 2016, At: 10:25 Journal of European Public Policy, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2015.1088564 Clientelism and economic policy: hybrid characteristics of collective action in Greece Aris Trantidis ABSTRACT How does clientelism affect policy-making? Can patrons in govern- ment discard groups of clients in order to pursue reforms in conditions of crisis? The article argues that clientelism goes beyond the exchange of votes and may permeate organizations with the capacity for collective action such as labour unions. This merger gives rise to a clientelist-collective system that changes both patron–client relations and the context of collective action with important implications for the design of economic policy. As evidence from Greece shows, patrons in government are better off avoiding reforms that deprive their client groups of collective and per- sonal benefits (clientelist bias in policy-making).
    [Show full text]
  • Mega-Events As a Source of Risks for Developing Countries: Comparative Study from the Brics Countries and Ukraine
    УДК 332:338:339.9 Andrii SKRYPNYK Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Professor, Department of Economics Cybernetics, Faculty of Information Technologies, National University of Life and Environmental Science of Ukraine, E-mail: [email protected] Eduard BUKIN MSc in Rural Development, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma, Italy, E-mail: [email protected] MEGA-EVENTS AS A SOURCE OF RISKS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: COMPARATIVE STUDY FROM THE BRICS COUNTRIES AND UKRAINE Skrypnyk, A. Mega-events as a source of risks for developing countries: comparative study from the BRICS countries and Ukraine [Текст] / Andrii Skrypnyk, Eduard Bukin // Економічний аналіз : зб. наук. праць / Тернопільський національний економічний університет; редкол. : В. А. Дерій (голов. ред.) та ін. – Тернопіль : Видавничо-поліграфічний центр Тернопільського національного економічного університету “Економічна думка”, 2016. – Том 23. – № 1. – С. 68-78. – ISSN 1993-0259. Abstract This study is dedicated to consequences of preparing and conducting mega-event in the developing countries. Analysing the results of hosting mega-events in developing countries and focusing on the cases of Ukraine and BRICS countries, we have come to a conclusion that mega-events significantly misbalances equilibrium on the market of sports facilities. Developing countries often adopt the mobilizations way of development that allows overcoming the civilization barrier in time, improving supply of infrastructure to the sufficient level for hosting a mega-event. We have shown that mobilization way of development often increases the risks of hosting a mega-event at the national level and creates the risks for the international organisations that are responsible for hosting a mega-event.
    [Show full text]
  • The EU Channels Support in Many Directions
    Working Papers Series in EU Border Conflicts Studies The Talkers and the Silent Ones The EU and Change in Greek-Turkish Relations Bahar Rumelili, Ph.D. Research Fellow Bogazici University/ University of Birmingham No. 10 October 2004 I. Introduction Greek-Turkish relations, in many ways, provides a fruitful case for scholars interested in the EU’s role in the transformation of border conflicts. First of all, it is a case where the impact of the EU is widely mentioned, but has not yet been comprehensively and systematically studied (Rumelili, 2004a). Secondly, because the EU has been a factor in Greek-Turkish relations since the early 1960s, the case contains many useful insights about the conditions under which the EU can positively impact border conflicts. There is a clear puzzle in the EU involvement in Greek-Turkish conflicts: Up until late 1990s, the EU failed to have a positive impact. Countering the links made between European integration and peace, Greek-Turkish conflicts multiplied and intensified as Greece and Turkey developed closer institutional relations with the EU. However, clearly since 1999, we observe a promising rapprochement between Turkey and Greece, one which is founded on the principles and procedures of the EU (Rumelili, 2003; 2004a). How the role of the EU changed from an additional forum for Greek- Turkish rivalry to a foundation for Greek-Turkish reconciliation is a very interesting empirical question that contains valuable insights for understanding the conditions for successful EU involvement in border conflicts. And finally, the case of Greek-Turkish relations demonstrates the complex interaction between the domestic and EU-level conditions in bringing about conflict change.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Economic Convergence in Greece: a Stochastic Dominance Approach
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Liontakis, Angelos; Papadas, Christos T.; Tzouramani, Irene Conference Paper Regional Economic Convergence in Greece: A Stochastic Dominance Approach 50th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Sustainable Regional Growth and Development in the Creative Knowledge Economy", 19-23 August 2010, Jönköping, Sweden Provided in Cooperation with: European Regional Science Association (ERSA) Suggested Citation: Liontakis, Angelos; Papadas, Christos T.; Tzouramani, Irene (2010) : Regional Economic Convergence in Greece: A Stochastic Dominance Approach, 50th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Sustainable Regional Growth and Development in the Creative Knowledge Economy", 19-23 August 2010, Jönköping, Sweden, European Regional Science Association (ERSA), Louvain-la-Neuve This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/119147 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparison of Elections for the European and the National Parliament: the Case of Greece*
    Comparison of Elections for the European and the * National Parliament: the case of Greece Ioannis Andreadis† and Theodore Chadjipadelis Department of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Introduction The elections for the European Parliament have some common characteristics in most countries of the European Union. Based on these characteristics the elections for the European Parliament have been described as second-order elections (Reif and Schmitt, 1980). The most important of these common characteristics relates to the abstention percentages which are much higher in the European elections than in the preceding elections for the National Parliament. This observation is open to different interpretations but the most prevailing is the one which supports that the voters find the outcome of the elections totally unimportant. Indeed, according to Heath et al (1999) voters believe that the outcome of the elections for the European Parliament are even less important than the outcome of local elections and do likewise, i.e. their participation to the European elections is lower than their participation to the elections of the local (sub-national) authorities. Two other common features of the elections for the European Parliament observed frequently in most countries of the European Union are related to loss of power for categories of parties. In the elections for the European Parliament we usually observe loss of power of the major parties and loss of power of the parties participating in the national government. For the major parties this loss can be interpreted easily because voters do not hesitate in European elections to move temporarily from larger to smaller parties since this movement will have no significant effect on the national political system.
    [Show full text]
  • The Greek and Turkish Case Compared
    By H. Millas – Lecture “B” in the USA, University of Tuscon, Arizona and University of Brown, Rhode Island, November 2010 DRAFT ONLY History Teaching and the formation of National Identity: The Greek and Turkish Case Compared Most of us came across history and “our” past, for the first time and in a rather systematic way quite early in life, usually in primary schools. What I remember from my childhood is that this narration, naturally, was quite simplistic because it was meant to be for small children. This national history is full of stories which are nice to hear. Some are happy-end stories; they end up with our victories or with our successful struggles for liberation which secured our independent state. Some stories mention unhappy incidents and/or years, too. The sad side of a story usually is caused by forces which are understood as “our enemy”. In these narrations the unhappy part of our national history has a temporary character. 1 The sorrow part is understood as the price we have to pay to secure what is sacred: our country, our identity, our honor, the memory of ancestors, etc. Overall, this history is a source of pride. It is accompanied by some symbols, such as national flags, portraits and statues of our heroes, well known patriotic verses, names of places where victorious battles were fought, etc. However, the problem with me is that I was not brought up with one such history – as most lucky children are - but with two: One was Turkish and the other was Greek. And these two stories were not in harmony, they were contradictory.
    [Show full text]
  • Phd THESIS Politics, Media and Journalism in Greece
    DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS Supervisor: Professor John Horgan PhD THESIS Politics, Media and Journalism in Greece By Antonis Skamnakis I hereby certify that this material, which I haw submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PkD is entirely my own work and haw not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work Signed: 4 IDNO-c Acknowledgements The author would like to thank his daughter Xrena, his son Kyriakos and his wife Joanna for their support. He would like also to thank his colleagues and his supervisor Professor John Horgan. Politics, Media and Journalism in Greece By Antonis Skamnakis Abstract The aim of this thesis is to analyze the relationship between politics and media in Greece. The relations of the two fields are defined mainly by the underdevelopment of Greek capitalism. This fact had a decisive contribution in the delay of democratization of the political institutions but also in the delay of development of a massive press. During its emergence, the Greek press was an instrument for the propagatory of national ideas and supporting the movement for national liberation. Later it played an important role in the creation of a constitutional state. The press during that phase was not simply political, but a political institution of power. Even during the period of political divisions of the Greek political system, press functioned inside these divisions, not only by supporting but also by expressing either conservative or liberal political forces.
    [Show full text]
  • Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and the Business Environment in Greece: Aspects from the EU South
    Chapter 14 Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and the Business Environment in Greece: Aspects from the EU South Aristidis Bitzenis, John Marangos, Vasileios A. Vlachos, Nikos Astroulakis, Giorgos Meramveliotakis & Antonis Tsitouras ABSTRACT The purpose of this chapter is to determine the competitiveness, exercise of entrepreneurship and quality of the business environment in Greece, based on the analysis of the motives and barriers of inward foreign direct invest- ment (FDI) for the period 1995-2003. The analysis was based on research that was carried out using a questionnaire, which was sent to 150 multina- tional enterprises (MNEs) that had invested in Greece in the aforementioned period. The sample size consisted of fifty-two MNEs and the response rate was 34.6 percent. According to the questionnaire results, the main motives for FDI in Greece, which is considered as a proxy for the level of entrepre- neurship in Greece, were: the prospects for market growth, political stabil- ity, economic stability, the size of Greek market, social stability, and the 2004 Olympic Games. The primary barriers to entrepreneurship in the Greek market mentioned by MNEs were bureaucracy, followed by the taxation system, corruption, and the labor market. Government officials and policy makers in Greece, students of economics, in particular, of inter- national development and international business/management, would benefit from this novel approach in determining motives and barriers of FDI in Greece as a proxy for the level of entrepreneurship and, consequently, developing the appropriate policy response with the goal of further stimulat- ing FDI in Greece. 253 254 Bitzenis, Marangos et al. INTRODUCTION The level of entrepreneurship and the business environment in Greece un- doubtedly has been questioned by both domestic and international investors.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Elections in Greece: Ecological Analysis and Ecological Inference
    Parliamentary Elections in Greece: correspondence analysis and ecological inference Ioannis Andreadis, Theodore Chadjipadelis Department of Political Sciences, Aristotle University Thessaloniki Abstract In this paper we present a detailed study of the 2007 Parliamentary Elections in Greece. This study includes correspondence analysis on the election results and ecological inference estimates of voter transition rates. Correspondence analysis reveals three dimensions of political competition in Greece. Ecological inference provides estimates of loyalty and defection rates between parties for each of the 56 electoral districts and for the entire country. We are also able to estimate abstention rates for each group of voters. This is a significant outcome that is not easily extracted by exit-polls. Geographical presentation of local estimates reveals patterns. These patterns can serve as the basis for further research on their association with other demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Introduction Greek Parliament consists of 300 members who are elected for a period of four consecutive years through direct, universal and secret ballot by the citizens. The last parliamentary elections in Greece were held on September 16 2007. This date was six months before the end of the four-year government term in a period that electoral polls awarded the government the top position in voting preferences. After a short pre-election period which began with forest fires that destroyed a significant part of Greek forests and opposition parties accusing government for incapability, it was common belief the government would win, but it was doubtful if it would get a parliamentary majority. The elections on 16/9/2007 do not seem to close the circle started after the Greek transition to democracy1.
    [Show full text]
  • Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics
    The Peter A. Allard School of Law Allard Research Commons Faculty Publications Allard Faculty Publications 11-2007 Faster, Higher, Stronger: Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics Benjamin Perrin Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/fac_pubs Part of the Criminal Law Commons, and the Human Rights Law Commons Citation Details Benjamin Perrin, "Faster, Higher, Stronger: Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics" (Calgary: The Future Group, November 2007). This Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Allard Faculty Publications at Allard Research Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Allard Research Commons. Ck changes FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER: PREVENTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING AT THE 2010 OLYMPICS THE FUTURE GROUP November 2007 www.thefuturegroup.org Electronic copy available at: http:// Faster, Higher, Stronger: Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics © The Future Group, 2007. Available through: The Future Group PO Box 61284 RPO Brentwood Calgary, Alberta, T2L 2K6 Canada Internet: http://www.thefuturegroup.org Faster, Higher, Stronger: Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................4 I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................5
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Reforms in Land Management Aspects to Support the Construction and the Continuing Use of the Olympic Infrastructure an Example of Good Practice in Greece
    Legal Reforms in Land Management Aspects to Support the Construction and the Continuing Use of the Olympic Infrastructure An Example of Good Practice in Greece Chryssy POTSIOU and Gerasimos APOSTOLATOS Greece Key words: Land Management, Urban Planning, Obligatory Expropriation, Olympic Infrastructure, Event-led Development SUMMARY The 2004 Olympic Games have left major legacies in land management in reformed legal procedures and land policy principles in Greece. These refer to all general infrastructure improvements, but mainly to the development of the new Olympic infrastructure which in the post-Olympic era should be used for a variety of athletic, cultural and trade activities. A serious land-use regulation and procedural reform took place during the preparation period prior to the Olympic Games 2004 in Greece. Due to that reform, and to the overall spirit of political cooperation and coordination in land-related activities and construction projects, Greece managed to organize one of the most successful Games in recent history. General Infrastructure projects whose construction had been pending for several decades were finished on time and most of the long standing problems were dealt with successfully. Despite the fact that all previous governments had tried to make it legally valid, to be prepared for the post-Olympic era, until recently land policy in Greece did not allow “mixed land use” in such installations. Several Olympic installations had been planned to continue operations with identical land use (such as convention, athletic, tourist) after the Olympics, creating thus an oversupply in specific infrastructure, while other land uses (such as thematic parks, academies for applied arts, and commercial use) important to the Attica region and to the other Olympic cities either were not planned at all or they were included in the plans without specific scientific study.
    [Show full text]
  • JU L 1 4 2006 LIBRARIES I BARKER 2 Real Lessons for Venture Capitalists in Multimodal Logistics Systems
    Real Lessons for Venture Capitalists in Multimodal Logistics Systems. Where does Profitability come from? by Nikolaos Th. Veniamis BSc in Management University of Manchester (Manchester Business School), 2005 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF S.M. IN OCEAN SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT AT THE MASSACHUTETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2006 @ 2006 Nikolaos Th. Veniamis. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author:.... ---- .......................... Department of Mechanical Engineering '- I May 12, 2006 C ertified by :................................ Dr. Henry S. Marcus, Professor of Marine Systems Thesis Supervisor A ccep ted b y :........... .......................... ....... ........................................... Dr. Lallit Anand, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Chairman, Department Committee for Graduate Students MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOCY JU L 1 4 2006 LIBRARIES I BARKER 2 Real lessons for Venture Capitalists in Multimodal Logistics Systems. Where does Profitability come from? by Nikolaos Th. Veniamis Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of May 14, 2006 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Ocean Systems Management ABSTRACT In this thesis we review three case studies in multimodal logistics and transportation systems and analyze the reasons that lead to failure or success. We present the business idea and model of each case study and study the factors that determine revenues and costs, as well as the expectations of the case regarding the evolution of these factors in the future.
    [Show full text]