Cyprus leaders urged to relaunch negotiations

The European Commission has urged the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in Cyprus to step up their efforts to relaunch negotiations on a comprehensive settlement under UN auspices.

In its Enlargement Strategy 2007 Report issued today along with the Progress Reports for the EU candidate countries (Croatia, FYROM and Turkey) and EU potential candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo), the Commission said it was implementing the instrument of financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community, facilitating the future re-unification of the island.

“Enhanced use of the Green Line Regulation, which allows for the movement of persons and goods throughout Cyprus, will serve the interests of both communities,” the Commission said, adding that “the regulation on direct trade with the northern part of Cyprus, proposed by the Commission to further reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community remains to be adopted by the Council.”

In its text for Turkey in the same Report, the Commission said that with regard to regional issues, Turkey has expressed continued support for UN efforts to find a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

“However there has been no progress towards normalization of bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus. Turkey has not fully implemented the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement and has not removed all obstacles to the free movement of goods, including restrictions on direct transport links with Cyprus,” it added.

Speaking during a press conference in Brussels, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the Commission expects progress in the accession negotiations with Turkey in the course of the year, adding that at least two chapters could be opened in the coming weeks, that of Consumer and Health Protection and of Trans-European Networks.

He also recalled that “8 chapters will not be opened until Turkey has fulfilled the commitments related to the Ankara protocol in line with the Council conclusions of 11th of December last year.”

Turkey which is aspiring to become an EU member state has been occupying 37% of Cyprus territory since 1974 and refuses to implement the Customs Union Protocol by opening its ports and airports to Cyprus, and EU member state since May 1, 2004.

The EU General Affairs Council agreed unanimously on Dec 11, 2006, to sanction Turkey for failing to respect its trade obligations to Cyprus by freezing eight chapters of the acquis communautaire, covering the policy areas relevant to Turkey's restrictions as regards the Republic of Cyprus, a decision that has been endorsed by EU leaders.

In the 2007 Progress Report for Turkey the Commission noted that this country maintained its restrictions on direct transport links with Cyprus. Furthermore it said that Turkey has further improved its ability to take on the obligations of membership, recalling that owing to Turkey's non compliance with its obligations related to the additional protocol to the Ankara Agreement in December 2006, the EU decided to freeze eight chapters of the negotiations, but to continue with the other chapters.

“Progress was made in most areas, in particular in the chapters on free movement of goods, financial services, trans-European Networks, and science and research. However, alignment needs to be pursued, in particular in areas such as, free movement of services, state aid, agriculture, fisheries, food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policies, and environment. Fulfillment of short-term priorities under the Accession Partnership is lagging behind in many areas,” the Commission said.

It added that Turkey continues to sufficiently fulfill the Copenhagen political criteria and has overcome smoothly its political and institutional crisis, noting that there has been some progress in legislative reform of the public administration, and some progress has been made in improving the efficiency of the judiciary.

“More action has been taken to improve women's rights. The reported number of cases of torture and ill-treatment continued to decrease. Turkey has made progress on the ratification of international human rights instruments and in implementing the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments”, the Commission said.

However, it noted “there was limited progress on political reforms in 2007. Significant further efforts are needed on freedom of expression and on the rights of non-Muslim religious communities. Further progress is needed on the fight against corruption, the judicial system, trade union rights, children's and women's rights, cultural rights, as well as civilian oversight of the security forces.”

It is now important that the new government takes immediate action on these priority areas, the Commission stressed, adding that freedom of expression and freedom of religion are the most urgent issues, on which we want to see the government take action without delay.

It also underlined that there has been a further increase in terrorist attacks by the PKK adding that it is crucial that Turkey and Iraq continue to tackle this problem through cooperation between the relevant authorities and by respecting international law.Rehn said “the EU condemns all terrorist attacks and understands Turkey’s need to protect its citizens” stressing at the same time the need for the respect of the rule of law.

As regards economic criteria the Commission said Turkey can be regarded as a functioning market economy and it should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term, provided that it implements its comprehensive reform programme to address structural weaknesses.