Προσπάθεια εξοικονόμησης 2 δισ. από το ΕΣΠΑ

Της Ευγενιας Tζωρτζη

Τη μεταφορά πόρων από προγράμματα του ΕΣΠΑ που εμφανίζουν χαμηλή απορροφητικότητα σε αυτά που στοχεύουν στην ενίσχυση της επιχειρηματικότητας θα προτείνει το υπουργείο Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης και Ανταγωνιστικότητας, στο πλαίσιο της αναθεώρησης του προγράμματος που μπαίνει στην τελική του ευθεία. Η πρόταση για την αναθεώρηση του ΕΣΠΑ θα συνοδευθεί με το αίτημα για αύξηση της κοινοτικής συμμετοχής ως ποσοστό στη συγχρηματοδοτούμενη δαπάνη και αναμένεται να υποβληθεί στην Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή στις αρχές Μαΐου. Οπως εξηγεί ο υφυπουργός Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης και Ανταγωνιστικότητας κ. Παν. Ρήγας, το αίτημα για αύξηση της κοινοτικής συμμετοχής θα επιτρέψει την εξοικονόμηση δημόσιας δαπάνης ύψους περίπου 2 δισ. ευρώ, προκειμένου να χρηματοδοτηθούν άλλες αναπτυξιακές πολιτικές μέσω του Προγράμματος Δημοσίων Επενδύσεων. Στόχος είναι η αύξηση της συμμετοχής της Κοινότητας σε ποσοστό έως και 85%, μέσα από τα προγράμματα που σήμερα συμμετέχει με μικρότερο ποσοστό. Η ποσοστιαία συμμετοχή δεν συνεπάγεται την αύξηση των κοινοτικών πόρων, αλλά αποτελεί μια τεχνική προσαρμογή με στόχο την εξοικονόμηση εθνικών πόρων προκειμένου να χρηματοδοτηθούν έργα που δεν είναι επιλέξιμα από την Κοινότητα. Σύμφωνα με τις προτάσεις που επεξεργάζεται το υπουργείο Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης, το αίτημα δεν θα είναι οριζόντιο και θα αφορά κυρίως προγράμματα που η κοινοτική συμμετοχή υπολείπεται το 85%, όπως η Κατάρτιση, η Εκπαίδευση και η Διά βίου μάθηση, η Προσπελασιμότητα και τα Περιφερειακά Προγράμματα, όπου η συνδρομή της Κοινότητας διαμορφώνεται στο 50% ή στο 70%.

Αν και το ελληνικό αίτημα προσκρούει στην κοινοτική αρχή ότι τα χρήματα του ΕΣΠΑ είναι αναπτυξιακά κεφάλαια και δεν πρέπει να περικοπούν, η ελληνική πλευρά θα προβάλει την ενεργοποίηση κεφαλαίων μέσω χρηματοδοτικών μηχανισμών, όπως το ΕΤΕΑΝ, το Jessica ή το Jeremie, τα οποία ουσιαστικά αποτελούν τα βασικά αναπτυξιακά της επόμενης περιόδου με πόρους άνω των 2 δισ. ευρώ. Πρόκειται για κεφάλαια που θα διοχετευθούν στην πραγματική οικονομία με τη συνδρομή των τραπεζών και, σύμφωνα με το υπουργείο Ανταγωνιστικότητας, θα αντισταθμίσουν τη μείωση της εθνικής συμμετοχής του ΕΣΠΑ.

Γιατί θα επηρεαστούν κυρίως τα «βαριά» προγράμματα
Η μείωση της εθνικής συμμετοχής στον βαθμό που γίνει αποδεκτή, θα επηρεάσει κατά κύριο λόγο το πρόγραμμα Προσπελασιμότητα αλλά και τα αντίστοιχα έργα που περιλαμβάνονται στα Περιφερειακά Προγράμματα. Πρόκειται για το πιο «βαρύ» Πρόγραμμα του ΕΣΠΑ με δεσμευμένους πόρους άνω των 7 δισ. ευρώ και το οποίο εμφανίζει τις μεγαλύτερες καθυστερήσεις με κυριότερη αιτία την αναποτελεσματικότητα των μηχανισμών παραγωγής έργων που αδυνατεί να συμβασιοποιήσει και να εκτελέσει ώριμα έργα, συμβατά με την κοινοτική νομοθεσία και πρακτική. Είναι χαρακτηριστικό ότι η πλειονότητα των έργων που είχαν ενταχθεί στο ΕΣΠΑ, ήταν έργα προβληματικά και ανώριμα και το 1/3 των έργων του Προγράμματος Προσπελασιμότητα, που υλοποιούνται με συμβάσεις παραχώρησης αφορούσαν σε ανώριμα από τεχνικής άποψης έργα που βαρύνονται όλα με καταγγελίες. Αντίθετα ανελαστικές πλήρως χωρίς προοπτική περικοπών είναι οι πόροι για το Πρόγραμμα Περιβάλλον που αν και εξακολουθεί να αποτελεί ουραγό στην απορροφητικότητα, πρέπει σύμφωνα με τις δεσμεύσεις που έχουμε αναλάβει έναντι της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής να υλοποιηθεί «πάση θυσία».

China's Premier Wen: 'Speak the truth'

China's Premier Wen Jiabao during his annual press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 14.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Premier Wen Jiabao tells government advisers and researchers: "Speak the truth"
Comes at a time when Chinese authorities are rounding up dissenters
Beijing has built one of the world's most successful authoritarian regimes
Official: "(Wen) advocates transparency and accountability so as to ... solve problems"
Editor's note: "Jaime's China" is a weekly column about Chinese society and politics. Jaime FlorCruz has lived and worked in China since 1971. He studied Chinese history at Peking University (1977-81) and served as TIME Magazine's Beijing correspondent and bureau chief (1982-2000).
Beijing, China (CNN) -- In a round-table meeting with government advisers and researchers of a government-run think tank on April 14, Premier Wen Jiabao enjoined them to listen to people's voices and relay these truthfully to top leaders.
Wen's call to speak the truth comes at a time when the Chinese authorities are rounding up dissenters and muzzling whistle-blowers. A contradiction?
Analysts say Wen's statement is designed to counter public scepticism and to warn officials against lying or pandering to higher ups. Others suggest it may just be part of Beijing's crisis management.
A People's Daily commentary explains that Wen's appeal is meant to elicit accurate assessment of the situation so authorities can deal with problems effectively. "I don't think it is in contradiction to the party's crackdown on dissents," says Wenfang Tang, a political science professor at Ohio University. "Wen is trying to promote the legitimacy of the party, at least on the surface, whereas the dissidents want to destroy it."
China calls out the U.S. on human rights Revered Chinese artist branded criminal Crackdown on dissent in China
In recent years, China has seen communist governments in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan swept by political turmoil called the "color revolution". Beijing has also watched authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa toppled by popular uprisings. The fall of these regimes has raised the spectre of a Chinese "jasmine revolution."
That does not seem likely--yet. More than 30 years after Chairman Mao's death, the Communist regime has built one of the most successful authoritarian governments in the world, delivering double-digit economic growth while keeping its one-party grip.
Still, China's leaders fear outbreaks of luan (chaos). "They are not complacent," says a retired Communist Party official, who declined to be identified. "They may disagree on the ways and means but they agree on one goal that anti-government acts will be nipped in the bud at all cost. They do not care what other people and countries will say."
They have good reasons to fret. The country is grappling with high inflation, endemic corruption, growing pollution concerns and a widening gap between the rich and the poor. They fear outbreak of ethnic strife in Tibet and Xinjiang, which experienced bloody street riots in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
China's leaders have been trying to ease the pressure. "Their calculation is that if the government can keep the economy growing and jobs and wages increasing, the legitimacy of the CCP will be maintained," says China-watcher Drew Thompson. "But the challenges of growing social injustice, environmental damage and sustaining high economic growth will continue to haunt the leaders."
To avoid its own "jasmine revolution," Beijing is taking firm measures to nip dissent in the bud. Police have detained scores of dissidents, including lawyers and prominent artist Ai Weiwei. Censors block Internet and social networking sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. At the same time, Chinese leaders try to project a sense of calm and normalcy. Party insiders say this tactic is known as neijin waisong--"tight inside, appearing lax from the outside."
Their calculation is that if (Beijing) can keep the economy growing ... the legitimacy of the CCP will be maintained
--Drew Thompson, the Nixon Center
RELATED TOPICS
China
Beijing
Human Rights Policy
Wen Jiabao
At the press conference at the end of the annual session of China's legislature last month, I asked Premier Wen if he thought political reform was urgently needed so the leadership could better address the people's grievances and avert social unrest. The solution, he replied, was political reform--but reform that is gradual and led by the Communist Party. "It's not easy to pursue political restructuring in a country of 1.3 billion people," he said. "It needs to take place in an orderly way, under the leadership of the party." Wen added: "At present, I think the biggest danger lies in corruption, and eliminating the breeding ground of corruption needs systemic and structural reform."
Premier Wen is not necessarily pushing for radical political reforms, analysts say. Instead, says the retired Communist Party official, "he advocates transparency and accountability so as to effectively solve problems, avoid chaos and consolidate the Party's leadership."
Wen's admirers say he is a reformist at heart. However, he sounds like a lonely voice among China's top leaders. Wu Bangguo, chairman of China's parliament and No. 2 in the party's hierarchy, in March ruled out the possibility of a multi-party democracy in China.
Says Professor Wenfang Tang: "The question is whether Wen's effort to promote inner-party democracy will have a spill-over effect on political opposition outside the party. His style is different from Hu Jintao's and other technocrats. He is emotional and immensely popular, likes to appear in front of cameras and create sound bites."
Some observers wonder if Wen's pronouncement is just part of a "good cop, bad cop" charade, with Wen playing the reform-minded leader and President Hu Jintao playing the hard liner.
But there may be one other reason why the 69-year-old Wen feels freer to speak out in recent months. His two five-year terms will end in March 2013, after which he is expected to go into semi-retirement.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/21/china.wen.openness/index.html?hpt=C2

iPhone tracks users' movements

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52280000/jpg/_52280293_appletrackermap.jpg

Apple iPhones and 3G iPads are secretly recording and storing details of all their owners' movements, researchers claim.

Location data is kept in a hidden, unencrypted file according to security experts Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden.

With the right software, it can be used to map exactly where a person has been.

Apple has yet to comment on the revelation, however there is no suggestion that it has been uploading or using the information.

The findings, first reported by the Guardian newspaper, will come as a surprise to most iPhone users, as their devices do not give any visual indication that such data is being recorded.

However, although the practice is not explicitly flagged-up, it appears to be covered in the company's terms of use.

"We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behaviour and improve our products, services, and advertising"

Clearly intentional
Writing on the technology website O'Reilly Radar, Mr Allan and Mr Warden said they did not know why iPhones and iPads were collecting location information but it was "clearly intentional".

The men claim that the facility to record users' positions was added with the iOS4 software update, released in June 2010.

The data is also transferred to the owner's computer and stored in a file there each time the two devices are connected to carry-out a backup or synchronisation.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, told BBC News that it was unlikely Apple planned to use the information for commercial purposes.

"I think there are some legitimate privacy concerns and people will probably look for a way of obscuring that data," he said.

"But it is an object lesson about reading the terms and conditions," he added.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13145562