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Information for Cyprus Expats on the entry of Cyprus to the European Union
The Path To Membership
In 1971 the government of Cyprus entered into negotiations with the European Economic Community that led to the signing on 19 December 1972 of an Association Agreement between the two parties. The aim of the Agreement was the establishment, in two stages and within a period of ten years, of a Customs Union between Cyprus and the EEC. The Agreement came into force on 1 June 1973.
On 4 July 1990, the Cyprus government submitted its application for membership to the European Communities. The European Commission issued its Opinion (Avis) on Cyprus’ application on 30 June 1993.
The Opinion recognised the European identity and character of Cyprus and its vocation to belong to the Communities. It also confirmed that Cyprus satisfied the criteria for membership and was suitable to become a member of the Communities.
The Council of the EU discussed and endorsed the Opinion at its meeting on 4 October 1993. In its conclusions the Council also noted the following:
«The Council supported the Commission’s approach which was to propose, without awaiting a peaceful, balanced and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, to use all the instruments offered by the Association Agreement to help, in close co-operation with the Cypriot government, with the economic, social and political transition of Cyprus towards integration into the European Union».
Meanwhile, the European Council, at its meetings in Corfu in June 1994 and again in Essen in December the same year, confirmed that Cyprus would be included in the next phase of enlargement.
On 6 March 1995, the EU General Affairs Council reaffirmed the suitability of Cyprus for accession and stipulated that accession negotiations with Cyprus would start six months after the conclusion of the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference.
On 12 March 1998, President Clerides invited the Turkish Cypriot community to nominate representatives to be included as full members of the Cypriot team negotiating Cyprus’ accession to the EU. The EU Presidency as well as the member states welcomed President Clerides’ invitation and expressed hope that it would be considered in the future. The invitation was communicated by the British Presidency to the Turkish Cypriot leadership, which rejected it for not providing for separate negotiations with the illegal regime in the occupied area. On 24 March 2000, the European Union Commissioner responsible for enlargement, Mr Gunter Verheugen, also called on the Turkish Cypriots to participate in the talks. He said, «Cyprus can only speak with one voice; no separate negotiations are possible».
Accession negotiations were formally launched on 31 March 1998; substantive negotiations began on 10 November 1998. The first stage of the accession negotiations involved the analytical examination of the acquis communautaire (the EU Legislation, Directives, Decisions etc), known as «acquis screening», to identify the areas requiring harmonization with the EU laws and institutions. By the end of 1999 Cyprus submitted to the EU its position papers on all 29 chapters screened.
By December 2002, Cyprus was the first of the candidate countries to complete accession negotiations according to the agreed road map. The sustained efforts for the timely completion of the accession negotiations culminated in the unprecedented and historic milestone decision, reached at the Copenhagen European Council in December 2003, to admit Cyprus, together with nine other countries, as a new member-state of the European Union.
The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens on 16 April 2003 and came into effect on 1 May 2004. One of the protocols on Cyprus that was annexed to the Treaty provides for the suspension of the application of the acquis in the northern, Turkish-occupied part of the island, to be lifted in the event of a solution. It also states that the EU is ready “to accommodate the terms of a settlement in line with the principles on which the EU is founded”, and expresses the desire that the accession of Cyprus should benefit all Cypriots.
On 1 May 2004 the Republic of Cyprus became a full member of the EU completing a long journey that lasted more than three decades. Then-President of the Republic of Cyprus Mr Tassos Papadopoulos signed the Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003 in Athens, Greece and on 14 July the House of Representatives ratified the Treaty of Accession unanimously. In a statement during celebrations marking Cyprus’ accession, President Tassos Papadopoulos said:
“This moment signals a momentous milestone in Cyprus’s history. It is the second most important historic landmark after the proclamation of the Republic of Cyprus 44 years ago.
This moment marks the successful conclusion of a long effort and the hopeful beginning of a new course and a new era for Cyprus.
As from this moment, the Republic of Cyprus formally becomes a Member of the European Union. It becomes a full, integral and inseparable member of the great European family.
Our accession to the European Union does not create rights only. It entails also obligations and responsibilities. We will claim and we will enjoy those rights. At the same time we will fulfil our obligations and undertake our responsibilities. Our aim and ambition is not to be a recalcitrant Member of the Union, but a constructive and creative partner.”
In latest developments, on 3 July 2008 Cyprus became the 20th EU member state to ratify the Lisbon Treaty (also known as the Reform Treaty), designed to streamline the workings of the European Union with amendments to the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC, Rome) in order to “enhance the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and improve the coherence of its action”. Following a five-hour long debate at the plenary of the House of Representatives, a total of 31 parliamentarians voted in favour of the ratification, 18 against and 1 abstained.
The Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon (as Portugal held the EU Council's Presidency at the time), was planned to have been ratified in all member states by the end of 2008, so it could come into force before the 2009 European elections. However, the rejection of the Treaty on 12 June 2008 by the Irish electorate means that the treaty cannot currently come into force.
Source © PIO
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