EU harmonisation ‘will cost’

CYPRUS must achieve high harmonisation levels with the European Union acquis communautaire by April 1998, Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou said yesterday.

Speaking to senior government officials responsible for promoting the harmonisation process, Christodoulou said that by the end of the year two main goals should be achieved. First, he said, divergences between the acquis communautaire and Cypriot realities should be established and minimised; and secondly the issues on which the island would seek special agreements or a transitional period should be identified.

Christodoulou said that harmonisation would “cost”, and referred to Cyprus’ Customs Union process: by its second stage, he said, this had cost the island £170 million. Christodoulou also urged officials to accelerate the harmonisation process in order to dilute any EU scepticism about Cyprus’ accession abilities.

He said he felt sure the ministers could achieve the goals, which he described as being of great importance to Cyprus.

Accession talks are expected to begin in spring of next year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.