Cyprus in the New Europe

Cyprus in the New Europe

Ioannis Kasoulides, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, addressed on 4 June 2002, the latest in a series of EPC meetings with the new Member States on “Cyprus in the New Europe”. A question and answer session followed. This is not an official record of the proceedings and specific remarks are not necessarily attributable.

Mr Kasoulides described his country’s vision of Europe as a Union, which was strong, democratic, stable and prosperous, a world player with the means for a developed and coordinated foreign and defence policy, which would establish “a system of collective security.”

But it was absolutely imperative that any debate on the future of Europe should bring the EU closer to its citizens. Otherwise, the result of the current Convention discussions on Europe’s future would lack democratic legitimacy.

Mr Kasoulides said Cyprus wanted an EU that could preserve peace, security and sustainable development, and uphold human rights. It should have a common European identity and a sense of family, forged from the rich and diverse languages, cultures, nationalities, ethnicities and ideas that composed the Union.

The Treaty of Nice and the Laeken Declaration had provided the framework in which to achieve such visionary goals. The Convention was unique. The importance of its work could not be underestimated and Cyprus was participating actively – anxious that the outcome had the consent of its citizens. “What our citizens want is to have a Union that understands their problems and preoccupations and proposes the proper solutions and answers”, said Mr Kasoulides. What they wanted was safe food and water, crime-free streets, proper education, and health care, full employment and a clean environment. The Union also had to be capable of tackling organised crime, illegal immigration, drugs smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

Bringing the EU closer to the citizen required effective use of the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality and solidarity.

The Foreign Minister said Cyprus was very sensitive to the crucial issue of its present “forced division” and the continued occupation of 37% of its territory. Consequently, there was deep awareness of the contribution the EU could make towards establishing peace and stability and of the fact that such a contribution was inextricably linked to the process of European integration.

A vital element of such integration was the institutional balance and Cyprus was convinced that the existing roles of the Commission, European Parliament and the European Court had to be preserved, and the “Community method” extended and enhanced. Mr Kasoulides said the EU shared competences with its Member States, but any strict delineation of such competences could prevent the EU from evolving and remaining flexible enough to meet the needs of its citizens. The answer was full transparency in decision-making, while constantly questioning which level – Union, state or region – was best for dealing with a specific issue.

Meanwhile, many international issues – defence, terrorism, organized crime, illegal immigration, asylum, money-laundering and drugs trafficking – were obvious examples as to where the collective efforts of the Union could be more effective than individual efforts of the Member States; especially the smaller ones. Mr Kasoulides said more coordination of the EU’s voice in international organizations would help the expansion of the EU role in conflict prevention, particularly through “preventive diplomacy”, which was already part of the Union method of work. Its role as the biggest donor of international assistance could also be enhanced, along with the ambitious Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

Achieving such objectives, including stepping up Justice and Home Affairs cooperation and promoting European youth through education and exchanges, required greater democracy, transparency and efficiency within the EU, weeding out procedures that were too complex and inaccessible to ordinary people.

That meant strengthening the European Parliament, and more involvement for national parliaments in EU business – without disturbing the existing institutional balance. The importance of a dynamic Commission had to be upheld, and the Nice Treaty provisions on the Commission’s composition for an EU of up to 27 members, were “sound”, said Mr Kasoulides. He added; “the right of each country to appoint a Commissioner contributes to an atmosphere of trust and enables the Commission to function in a supra-national way.”

On the Charter of Fundamental Rights, he said Cyprus believed it should be incorporated into the Treaties, enhancing the EU’s identity by having a clear statement of the individual rights that European states are bound to observe. Mr Kasoulides drew a parallel between a Europe about to enlarge to heal the wounds of artificial division, and Cyprus, negotiating its own future in the hope of resolving the problems of its current, painful divide.

He said the government was fully committed to resolving, as soon as possible, the political problem that had bedevilled the island for the last 28 years, so that all Cypriots could live together in a re-united home as members of the enlarged European family of nations.

Discussion

Answering questions, Mr Kasoulides said that thestruggle between Greek and Turkish Cypruscould be resolved tomorrow, if the Turkish-Cypriots had, as reported from the floor, backed a three-tier government along the lines of the Belgian constitutional model, with one sovereign state with a “single international personality.” However, the Foreign Minister cautioned, he did not think the situation was so simple. The problem required a readiness on both sides to recognise each other’s anxieties and concerns.

On the Greek-Cypriot side, two problems had been identified: physical security, something which worried the Turkish Cypriots; and the desire of the Turkish-Cypriots not to be dominated by the Greek-Cypriots. “We have accepted the principle of political equality. That does not mean numerical equality. There will be an effective participation of both communities in the making of a central common state” said Mr Kasoulides.

One reassurance for the Turkish side would be that the Greek-Cypriot majority would not be able to take decisions on its own without some form of participation from the rest. He emphasized that there is no part of Cyprus which ever belonged to either side, and therefore any resolution had to be based on the principle, not of land being returned, but of re-establishing an island, the whole of which belongs equally to both communities.

“We are going to have one country, one sovereign state with a single international personality. It will have a common state, with two component states which will be given constitutional powers to deal with their own affairs.”

The common state government would need the powers necessary to function as one country; to tackle issues such as immigration, customs and citizenship – and, if the risk of subsequent partition could be eradicated in any settlement, a lot of things could be achieved.

Asked about his reference to “collective security”, Mr Kasoulides said the term did not refer to an EU functioning separately from the rest of the world, but the establishment of a defence role in a “new relationship” with NATO.

On Cyprus’ foreign policy contribution after EU membershi p, he pointed out that the sooner the island’s internal conflict was resolved, the sooner both sides in Cyprus could work, together with Turkey, on foreign policy issues, particularly in the wake of 11 September.

Asked about how Cyprus had handledlinks with civil societyin its accession deliberations, he said Cyprus had made a major effort, and had now closed 27 accession chapters. On the way, there had been talks with all sectors – trades unions, chambers of commerce – and no one had been missed out.

On the issue of whetherpower over foreign policy in Europeshould be transferred to the Commission, Mr Kasoulides said the issue had become an eternal debate in the European Union. Certainly the areas of competence for qualified majority voting would have to be extended, and Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP) should be under the control of supranational institutions in certain areas. He was not sure that all Member States were ready to hand over control for all foreign policy, but Cyprus would go along with the consensus.

Asked what happens if Cyprus joins the EU before the internal conflict is resolved, Mr Kasoulides said there was ample time for everyone to work diligently towards settlement. So far only a lack of political will had stopped progress and there was a need for compromise. However, in the event that Cyprus was still divided after EU membership in 2004, the fact of EU membership itself would be a spur for a resolution, and particularly for Turkey’s own membership application. Mr Kasoulides applied Jean Monnet’s axiom: “If you cannot resolve a problem, change its context – and that changed context is EU membership.”

Another questioner wondered whether theIrish example, with the Good Friday agreement, offered asolution for Cyprus. The Irish example did indeed prove that there were no intractable problems and no intractable positions said the Foreign Minister. “The Northern Ireland question was seen for many years as intractable and yet it has proved otherwise: I suspect that will be the case with Cyprus too.”

In closing,Stanley Crossick, EPC Director and Founding Chairman, observed that the current constitutional dispute would become unimportant once the whole island joined the EU.

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