Building the legal framework of privatizations in Cyprus: the missing link with sustainable development

This article presents and scrutinizes the Privatizations Law of the Republic of Cyprus, in the context of sustainable development. Cyprus was another victim of the Eurozone crisis. A bailout agreement was reached between Cyprus and its creditors. This bailout agreement was accompanied by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on specific Economic Policy Conditionality requiring certain reforms. The Cyprus MoU required, among others, privatizations of certain State-owned enterprises. In 2014, Cyprus adopted the Privatizations Law stipulating the details of the privatization process.

This article presents and discusses the most important aspects of this law. A critical overview of the legal framework of privatizations is provided in the context of sustainable development. The contribution of this privatization procedure to sustainable development is examined. More specifically, the absence of sustainable development from the Privatizations Law is criticized.

This article sheds light on the relationship between the privatized enterprises and sustainable development. Certain proposals in the light of the golden shares case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) are made. It is argued that sustainable development could be pursued through golden shares in privatized enterprises. Proposals for the inclusion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in privatized enterprises are brought forward. This article also considers various challenges to the privatization programme of Cyprus.

This article is part of a special issue: The future of the commercial contract in scholarship and law reform - a work in progress