E.U. MEASURES to open direct trade with the north – on the agenda in Brussels today – may have to be postponed for the time being, government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said yesterday.
The government has been working frantically to thwart the EU’s plans to open direct trade with the north, which forms part of a package of measures to be announced today, covering trade, aid, harmonisation, normalisation and free movement of persons.
To get around the issue of the north being an internationally unrecognised state, the EU was set to push the direct trade measure under Article 133 of the Treaty of Rome, which covers customs duties between the bloc and third “countries and territories”.
The government has consulted its own independent experts on the legality of the Commission’s move with regard to UN resolutions and international law. It argues that the north is part of the entire territory of the Republic of Cyprus. When Cyprus joined the EU on May 1, the acquis was suspended for the north.
Although the package of measures is still to be announced today – including the step for direct trade – Chrysostomides said the government believes this would not be implemented.
”The government has proceeded without much publicity to take all necessary action regarding the measures that the EU Commission is due to announce,” Chrysostomides said, adding the measures might prove harmful to the Greek Cypriot side.
Chrysostomides also said the government would announce a series of administrative measures aimed at facilitating the implementation of other economic measures for the Turkish Cypriots. These include some demilitarisation within the walls of old Nicosia, the reduction of arms and de-mining along the buffer zone.
Foreign Minister George Iacovou yesterday welcomed the fact that the Commission and others within the EU understood many of the concerns expressed by the Cyprus government about the direct trade issue, particularly regarding its political expediency as well as the legal basis that was to be applied by the Commission to introduce the regulation.
Iacovou said there was a “serious possibility” that the regulation might not be approved at this stage but would rather be postponed for future consideration to allow enough time to examine all the issues that concerned the Cyprus government.
The other measures that the government does not oppose include the allocation of 259 million euros for financial assistance to the Turkish Cypriots over the next three years, Green Line Regulations on internal trade between the two sides.
The government has received a draft of the Commission’s proposals and has submitted its comments to Brussels.
The Turkish Cypriot side is expecting the direct trade measure. Leader Mehmet Ali Talat said he expected the 1994 EU embargo to be lifted.
“If this happens we will be able to use our own ports to trade directly with the EU,” he said, adding that thought the ports were currently not ready, they could be in a very short time. Talat said he wanted the Turkish Cypriots to be treated as EU members.
Yesterday, on his return from London where he met Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Talat called on Britain to begin direct flights to the north, saying that because Britain was a guarantor state it had a responsibility to help end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.
“I hope that Britain would examine the issue and take necessary steps,” Talat said. He added that his official invitation from Britain to meet with Straw – which had outraged the Greek Cypriot side – was a signal that isolation of Turkish Cypriots could not continue after Greek Cypriots voted against the Annan plan.
