CYPRUS has to buck up and fulfil all its obligations under EU law before and after EU accession unless it wants to become a “second grade member”, warned Cyprus’ Co-ordinator for EU harmonisation, Takis Hadjidemetriou, yesterday.
In order for Cyprus to take full advantage of EU membership and have a legitimate voice in EU affairs, all obligations to the EU would have to be fulfilled before May 1 2004, said Hadjidemetriou.
The co-ordinator was optimistic that the outcome of the European Commission’s Final Report on Cyprus would be positive on November 5 when it will be presented to the European Council.
If Cyprus fails to fulfil its obligations before accession, then the country could face a number of penalties including fines, withholding of EU funds and exclusion from the single European market.
Hadjidemetriou stressed that Cyprus could take part in the various schemes and funds offered by the EU to the extent that it is in a position to implement the acquis communautaire.
He noted that the next phase of enlargement in 2004 was by far the hardest, with a much stricter process and tighter time frame for acceding countries compared to previous enlargements.
Cyprus still has around 150 harmonisation laws still to pass through parliament including laws on the euro-elections, producer organisations, the Paying Agency, customs, the banking system and electronic finance. Most of these are supplementary laws that can be passed after January, but important laws must be passed before the end of the year, said Hadjidemetriou.
A lot of work still has to be done regarding the revision of Cyprus’ international treaties and bipartite agreements, while all the laws passed as part of the harmonisation process would now be reviewed to ensure implementation was possible, said the co-ordinator. Administrative structures in crucial areas must also come up to scratch if Cyprus wants to take advantage of the wide variety of funds made available by the EU, he added.
Referring to the recent truckers’ strike and the effects of EU harmonisation, Hadjidemetriou insisted all professional bodies were informed of the harmonisation laws, but admitted it was possible that “the consequences were not understood or other impressions were given”.
He highlighted that the EU could not be blamed for all tax hikes, since only cigarettes and alcohol duties were going up as a result of EU accession.
The co-ordinator acknowledged that the social and economic consequences of accession were just now being felt, mainly because more weight had until now been was given to the political aspect of accession.
He said the government was working on increasing public awareness by organising a number of seminars and hiring the help of a Brussels expert.
