Cox critical of EU’s ‘bridge-building’ in Cyprus

Date: 05/09/02

By David Cronin

EUROPEAN Parliament chief Pat Cox has branded the EU's efforts to bridge the gaps between Cyprus' Greek and Turkish communities as 'insufficient'.

In a recent letter to Commission President Romano Prodi, Cox suggested three measures which the Union could examine in an effort to encourage a peace deal on the island, which is due to join the EU in 2004. These are:

• How the EU could bring to bear its own experience with pooling national sovereignty in a 'single internationally recognised [Cypriot] state';
• What implications the application of the EU's body of law, the acquis communautaire, will have on the Turkish enclave in the island's north, and;
• The impact which EU law could have on the 'construction of a comprehensive settlement'.

'None of these questions are currently being addressed in any meaningful way,' said the Cork-based MEP.

Cox advocated that the EU could play the role of 'assessor' in the face-to-face talks currently taking place between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Giafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash. This would involve clarifying precisely what effect Cyprus' planned accession to the EU will have, especially on its northern part.

These issues are vital, he added, 'not least because the impact for Northern Cyprus of the acquis has not been quantified or studied and because many elements of the accession negotiations may need to be incorporated in arrangements for a comprehensive settlement.'

Cox said he supported the decision taken by EU leaders at the 1999 Helsinki summit that a resolution of the Cyprus issue shouldn't be a precondition to its EU entry.

Yet he believes 'the optimum solution' would be for enlargement to encompass both of its divided communities.

The European Parliament has been seeking recently to raise its profile on the Cyprus question.

Its foreign affairs committee has invited both Clerides and Denktash to jointly address its members in the coming weeks. Denktash has indicated his willingness to accept this offer.

But a Greek Cypriot diplomat said Clerides will probably wait until after a meeting the two men are due to have with UN chief Kofi Annan in Paris tomorrow (6 September) before deciding on his response to the MEPs.

European Parliament President Pat Cox has branded the EU's efforts to bridge the gaps between Cyprus' Greek and Turkish communities as 'insufficient'.