EU progress report welcomed, warts and all

By Jean Christou

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday expressed its satisfaction at the European Commission progress report on the island’s European Union accession, citing its objectivity on the country’s work towards harmonisation.

The Foreign Ministry said the government also welcomed the criticisms contained in Tuesday’s report, saying it would help Cyprus correct mistakes and omissions ” which had been made in good faith” .

” The government realises that in spite of the progress achieved so far towards Cyprus’ preparedness for accession, there is still a lot of serious and arduous work to be done before the successful conclusion of our accession negotiations, and therefore there is no room for relaxation,”the Foreign Ministry said.

Cyprus’ Chief EU negotiator George Vassiliou echoed the government’s sentiments later yesterday, telling journalists there were still some 350 pieces of legislation which must be harmonised. Cyprus has already closed 26 of the 29 chapters for harmonisation.

The 2001 report said that Cyprus should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU, and that the country’s macroeconomic situation had continued to be robust, with high GDP growth, low inflation and unemployment.Areas of remaining concern for the EU include harmonisation of the level of indirect taxation and the special regime of direct taxation for offshore companies, which the government has proposed to scrap.The report also said that in the telecommunications sector there had been a considerable delay in adopting legislation to transpose key parts of the acquis communautaire . Another area of concern was the issue of border control and asylum. The report said that the island’s location made it a potential transit area for illegal immigration and that a fair, effective and efficient set of procedures for asylum-seekers was still not in place.

” We are fully satisfied by the fact that both the report on Cyprus’ progress, the report on Turkey’s progress and the strategy paper record continuing Turkish intransigence in the efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem,”the Foreign Ministry said.

The EU report made it clear to Turkey that it has an important role to play in ensuring that the efforts undertaken by the UN Secretary-general for a Cyprus settlement lead to positive results in the months ahead.

It said there was a window of opportunity for reaching a settlement before the end of the accession negotiations, which would allow the Turkish Cypriots to be part of the accession process and to enjoy the benefits of the EU.

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.