A MEETING is due to take place at a technical level in an attempt to settle problems between Nicosia and Brussels over the implementation of the financial aid package to the Turkish Cypriots.
Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou has been in Brussels initiating a round of contacts with EU officials ahead of a resumption of Cyprus talks. Until he was appointed to the Cabinet last month, Kyprianou was working in Brussels as the EU’s Health Commissioner.
After meeting his former colleague Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on Tuesday, Kyprianou said: “Our fundamental principle is that legality should be maintained and any action in Cyprus by the European Commission must be taken with the consent of the EU member state, the Republic of Cyprus.”
The Cyprus government had filed six cases with the Court of First Instance at the European Court of Justice over the involvement of Turkish Cypriot ‘state’ organs in tenders for projects under the €259 million financial aid package.
It felt that allowing this constituted an upgrade of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.
Last week, Jan Truszczynski, the Deputy Director General DG Enlargement told a news conference that the six legal cases could bring down the entire financial aid programme for the north if Nicosia won the Court of Justice battle because it would suspending the tenders, which means projects could not be contracted.
Then Turkish Cypriot side would then lose the money because EU money not spent is lost.
Speaking after meeting Rehn, Kyprianou said: “We both agreed that there is a way to implement the regulation, without breaching the fundamental principles set out by Cyprus.”
Kyprianou said he found a good response to the concerns expressed by the Cyprus government, and if Cyprus was satisfied with the outcome of discussions over the coming days, there would be no reason to insist on recourse to the Court of Justice.
The financial aid projects for the north include a waste management project, a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Lefka copper mine, financial support for the Committee for Missing Persons, traffic safety management, and demining in the buffer zone.
Kyprianou’s meetings in Brussels preceded the visit by President Demetris Christofias today and tomorrow. Christofias left for Brussels yesterday.
The President will meet the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pottering as well as leaders of EU member states on the sidelines of the EU Summit in Brussels.
The meeting between Christofias and Barroso will take place tomorrow.
It will be Christofias’ first visit to Brussels since he was elected President.
