House approves EU Affairs post

PARLIAMENT last night approved the creation of the position of Undersecretary to the President for European Affairs.

The position will be filled by Andreas Mavroyiannis, currently Cyprus’ permanent representative in Brussels, who will oversee preparations for the assumption of the EU Council presidency in July 2012.

The law voted unanimously by the plenum yesterday paves the way for the position to be formalised via presidential decree.

It is to be a temporary position, covering the period October 3 2011 to January 31 2013.

The Undersecretary to the President for European Affairs does not enjoy the status of a civil servant; he is answerable to the President, and is obliged to give the President regular updates on the status of preparations, as well as briefing parliament whenever requested.

It has been three months since the resignation of Andreas Moleskis, the head of the secretariat of the EU presidency.

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.