Cyprus civil society under EU scrutiny

THE Single Market Observatory of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) yesterday collected contributions from members of Cypriot civil society during a public hearing it had organised in Nicosia.

As a peripheral Member State with a unique location and in a complex situation, Cyprus deserves particular attention, the European Commission said last week.

The hearing was held from 9am to 12.30pm at the Cyprus Workers’ Confederation [SEK] headquarters in Stovolos, Nicosia. It addressed a series of questions including:
Do Cypriots feel that they are benefiting from the Single Market as they expected?
What is the impact of enlargement on Cyprus economic and social life?

How do consumers, workers, farmers, small and medium size enterprises, large companies, the professions and many others of local life feel about the changes brought about by EU membership?

What recommendations would they want to pass on to the European regulator? To what extent can they hope to have an influence on the design of Community legislation? What information relays can they count on to be heard?

According to Europa, the portal site of the European Union, the European Economic and Social Committee, composed of representatives of civil society organisations, is an advisory body which, through its membership, is deeply rooted in the everyday life of the Union’s citizens. The EESC’s Single Market Observatory is a pragmatic instrument designed to feel the pulse of organised civil society in the Member States, to identify where the market’s functioning could be improved or where obstacles are preventing citizens from enjoying the full benefits of the market, a Europa press release said.

The EESC members, as representatives of European organised civil society, listened to their counterparts in Cyprus with a view to passing their messages on to the legislator and the regulator. They also answered questions and clarified situations arising from EU membership.

n http://eesc.europa.eu/smo/index_en.asp

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.