FOREIGN Minister Marcos Kyprianou said yesterday the European Commission was in a very difficult position following a legal ruling saying it cannot bypass the Republic of Cyprus to implement direct trade with the Turkish-occupied north.
However, Kyprianou cautioned, this was not the end of the matter.
“Certainly it is an important milestone in this procedure … it changes the facts and puts the European Commission in a very difficult position,” Kyprianou told state radio.
It has emerged that the European Parliament’s (EP) legal service has ruled that the legal basis chosen by the Commission to push through the direct trade regulation was unsuitable and its potential adoption could undermine Cyprus’ sovereign rights.
The Commission is trying to pass the regulation under an article in the Lisbon Treaty that governs EU trade with third countries thus depriving Cyprus of the right to veto.
External trade issues come under the co-decision procedure as stipulated in the Lisbon Treaty and the European Council shall act by a qualified majority.
In its ruling, the EP’s legal service suggests that Protocol 10 of the island’s Accession Treaty could be the proper legal basis, a position supported by Cyprus.
The ruling follows a similar view taken by the Council’s legal service.
“All along we said that this choice was wrong,” Kyprianou said. “We know this choice was simply made to avoid the need for unanimity at the Council – to bypass the vote or consent of the Republic of Cyprus. So a legal concoction was used.”
Cyprus has argued that the direct trade regulation should not be examined as a matter of international trade with third countries since the north is considered part of the Republic of Cyprus – according to the accession treaty — despite the suspension of the acquis.
“I believe the European Commission has been left exposed,” the foreign minister said.
Kyprianou said it remained to be seen how the EP would handle the issue.
“Certainly we think they should do (follow the ruling) because it is clear that the whole procedure was based on a wrong legal basis.”
And it infringed the Republic’s sovereign rights.
“A state has the sovereign right to decide, which are the points of entry and exit in its territory,” Kyprianou said.
Following the 1974 invasion, the Cypriot government declared all ports and airports in the north closed and entry from these points is considered illegal.
If the EP accepts the ruling then its role in the affair is finished since it only has a say when the matter concerns third countries.
The Commission would then have to decide whether to amend the regulation and put it on the correct legal basis or withdraw it.
“If the European Commission continues to insist then it will raise many questions regarding its intentions towards a member-state,” Kyprianou said. The minister warned that promoting the direct trade regulation would not help Turkey’s accession to the EU.
“It will have the exact opposite effect.”
