Cyprus and Malta common interests in EU

ISSUES related to commercial shipping, trans-European transport networks and the Bluemed Functional Airspace Block of the EU, in which Malta and Cyprus participate, were discussed yesterday at a meeting between Communications Minister, Erato Marcoullis and her Maltese counterpart, Austin Gatt.

Speaking after the meeting, Marcoullis said referred to the close relations and cooperation between Cyprus and Malta, especially after their accession to the EU and the eurozone.

During the meeting the two ministers exchanged views on commercial shipping, since Malta and Cyprus, along with Greece, are the leading countries in this field, in the EU.

Marcoullis and her Maltese counterpart focused their discussion on the positions of the two countries on the European Commission’s White Paper that includes issues such as commercial shipping and gas emissions.

”Our positions are identical in these two areas, but the discussion of the issues leads us to a better coordination of our approach in the international organisations” the minister said.

Cyprus and Malta share common interests on the issue of trans-European transport networks, currently debated in the EU. Marcoullis pointed out that they both would like their particularities, as small island states in the EU, to be taken into account during the revision of the guidelines for such networks.

On the issue of the creation of the nine Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) of the EU, aiming to create the Single European Sky, she stressed that the preparations must be speeded up since according to an EU decision the FABs should be in operation by the end of 2012.

Cyprus presides over the Bluemed FAB of which Malta, Greece and Italy are also members.

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.