How the EU resisted pleas for derogations

EU ENLARGEMENT Commissioner Gunther Verheugen said yesterday he believed Greek Cypriots might be swayed to support the Annan plan by provisions allowing them to buy land freely in the Turkish north after 15 years.

Greek Cypriots are deeply sceptical about the plan announced by UN head Kofi Annan for an association of two ethnically-based, largely autonomous zones. Many believe restrictions on Greeks returning to former homes in the north and buying property there are unfair.

Verheugen said yesterday the right to purchase property everywhere on the island had been the most difficult issue to accommodate under European Union law.

UN-brokered talks in Switzerland involving the leaders of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus ended without a deal. Cyprus is due to join the EU on May 1, with or without a peace settlement, but a continued division of the island could pose serious diplomatic problems for the bloc.

Verheugen disclosed that Annan had initially proposed a permanent exception from EU law on the free movement of capital throughout the bloc, but this was unacceptable to Brussels.

“In very difficult discussions, we found a transitional period of 15 (years) after which EU law must be implemented,” he told a news conference. “That in my view will substantially change public opinion in the Greek Cypriot community.”

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, who had demanded a permanent derogation from EU law, have endorsed the Annan plan. Greece and the Greek Cypriots did not, saying there were still problems.

But Verheugen said when they realised that the peace deal involved no permanent exceptions from EU law and a good solution had been found for the purchase of property, it could turn public opinion in the Greek Cypriot community.

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.