Diplomat says still hope for agreement
THE E.U. member states once again failed to agree on their response to Turkey’s declaration that it does not recognise Cyprus, during an extraordinary ambassadors meeting (COREPER) called by the British Presidency.
According to a presidency spokesman “there has been progress”, while another diplomat told the Mail there is still hope for agreement within COREPER.
However, if the ambassadors cannot agree then the Presidency will have to call a Foreign Ministers meeting, something which most countries do not want.
It appears that yesterday’s deadlock came about because of Ankara’s threat it will refuse to open accession negotiations to join the EU next month if the 25 member states impose “new conditions” through their counter-declaration.
As a consequence, London did not address Nicosia’s two main concerns in the draft it tabled, regarding when Turkey will recognise Cyprus and the reference to UN efforts for a settlement, leading to its rejection by Cyprus and Greece.
The Presidency has said it will come up with yet another proposal, the sixth, which will be tabled either at next Wednesday’s COREPER or maybe even earlier if it feels confident.
An EU diplomat said what is encouraging is that all member states accepted the paragraph referring to the implementation of the Protocol extending Turkey’s customs union to all member states.
However, another source said the changes to the paragraph are minimal as they do not address Nicosia’s concern as to how implementation will be safeguarded.
Sources said the Greek ambassador reiterated his proposal that Cyprus’ recognition is tied to Turkey’s accession negotiations and not accession itself, as the UK proposes. He also repeated that recognition should not be tied to efforts for a settlement, issues he had raised at the last meeting but were not taken on board.
It appears that most member states who spoke yesterday said they “could live” with the counter-declaration proposed, but acknowledged that it is a very important issue for one of the members and therefore agreement must be reached.
Their position came as a relief to Nicosia, as it didn’t leave Cyprus feeing isolated or cornered.
Even so, one cannot say when the other states will start pressing for an agreement as most countries want a decision on the counter-declaration and the Framework of the Negotiations the soonest. This is especially true for countries where public opinion is not favourable to Turkey’s accession.
The Presidency has also said it will hold bilateral meetings with the four countries that want changes to the Framework (Cyprus, Greece, France and Austria).
Cyprus has warned its EU partners that if it is not satisfied on the counter-declaration, then it will insist to have its demands met in the Framework.
France is asking that the EU’s capacity to absorb new states, which already exists in the Framework, is stressed further, while Austria wants Ankara to be offered a “privileged partnership”.
The one issue all states agree on, though, is that the talks with Turkey will open on October 3, as planned.
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