The European Union and enlargement. The case of Cyprus

Abstract:

The aim of this book is explore the impact of EU involvement in Cyprus and to consider the extent to which the EU might use the attractions of membership to influence and moderate the behaviours of eager candidate countries. Cyprus is the central theme but the wider issue of EU foreign policy is enveloped in the work.

The book is organised over seven chapters. The first chapter presents an evaluation of the EU’s capabilities in the area of foreign policy along with a review of the theoretical material on the EU as a global actor. Chapter two provides the historical background to the Cyprus issue with particular emphasis on the key players - Greece, the Greek Cypriots, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots as well as the UN, Britain and the US. Chapter three seeks to assess whether or not there is a EU ‘strategy’ (implicit or explicit) to use the accession process as a catalyst in the solution of the Cyprus question. Chapter four examines the impact of enlargement on the two central communities - the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots - and the extent that it has influenced the leadership, political parties, civil society towards a solution of the conflict. Turkey and its ambition for accession are the focus of chapter five, which considers whether or not the EU has done enough in the accession process to encourage Turkey towards a resolution of the Cyprus problem. Chapter six looks at the interplay between the EU and the UN in the search for a solution of the Cyprus issue. The final chapter draws together the arguments and evidence of earlier chapters to assess the limitations and constraints of inclusion, and the extent to which the perceptions of the different parties have been affected by the enlargement process.

The work will interest scholars, students, researchers, policy makers and politicians engaged in European Studies, International Relations, Conflict Resolution and European enlargement.

George Christou is Research Associate in the Department of Information and Communications at Manchester Metropolitan University.