HOUSE President Demetris Christofias and European Affairs Committee chairman Tassos Papadopoulos said yesterday they believed Cyprus would join the EU irrespective of a solution to the Cyprus Problem.
Their comments came as the House of Representatives convened to discuss the EU and its future on the occasion of a convention on the future of Europe taking place in Brussels.
The plenary session was also attended by President Glafcos Clerides and the Head of European Commission’s delegation for Cyprus accession, Leopold Maurer.
In his speech, House President and AKEL leader Demetris Christofias said Cyprus belonged to Europe and had a place in the EU regardless of a solution.
“This is a time for European institutions to be improved,” he added.
House European Affairs Committee chairman and DIKO President Tassos Papadopoulos went further, charging the EU had failed to give a role and a say to its citizens.
“This is why the block has invited candidate countries for accession to participate in the discussion on the future of Europe,” he said.
Papadopoulos stressed that a solution of the Cyprus Problem was not a precondition for accession.
After the Parliamentary assembly, President Clerides said: “Today’s event has kicked off an effort to raise awareness among people and politicians about the EU’s future form.”
Ending a three-day visit to Cyprus, Maurer said Cyprus had reached the final stage of its accession negotiations, adding that it was now important to implement the EU acquis communautaire and make the necessary adjustments enabling the state mechanism to apply harmonised legislation.
He noted there was room for improvement in areas such as the free transport of goods.
But Cyprus’ chief EU negotiator George Vassiliou boasted that, “our progress in fields like state subsidies, communications and anti-trust policy has been described as impressive by EU officials.”
Maurer said that the European Commission would conduct a report assessing each candidate country’s progress and submit it to the EU Seville Summit in June.
“In this report, we will suggest which countries should join the Union,” he explained.
Cyprus is expected to become a full member of the EU by 2004.
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.
