Welcome on behalf of the European Union to
Mr. Yiannis CASSOULIDES and his delegation. Yesterday we successfully launched the
Accession Process. I am delighted that today we are meeting to open accession
negotiations.
The Union has shown it can respond
decisively and effectively to the transformation of Euorpe’s political landscape and use
the opportunities this offers to end the divisions of the past. These efforts are being
matched by Cyprus which has made great strides on the path to accession.
We must now press ahead with the detailed
business of the negotiations. I hope our work will make swift progress. I look forward to
the day when I will see you across the Council table as fellow members of the EU.
You have the EU’s position before you. I
should like to highlight some of its elements.
The EU regrets that is has not been possible
to achieve a political solution to the continuing division of Cyprus in time for the
accession negotiations on which we embark today. The Union believes that Cyprus’
accession to the EU should benefit all communities, including the turkish Cypriot
community, and help to bring about civil peace and reconciliation on the island. In that
context, our objective remains a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation on the basis of a
comprehensive poltiical settlement in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions. A
political settlement would allow the provisions of the Accession Treaty to be implemented
throughout the island. Progress towards accession and towards a just and viable solution
to the Cyprus problem will naturally reinforce each other. The Union reaffirms its full
support for the search for a solution which is now proceeding through talks under the
aegis of the UN and hopes that negotiations will resume without delay.
The European Union welcomes the offer your
Government has made to include Turkish Cypriot representatives in the team for negotiating
the terms of Cyprus’ accession to the EU. The European Union regrets that the Turkish
Cypriot community has so far responded negatively to this offer. It reiterates the
importance that it attaches to associating the Turkish Cypriots with the accession
process, in accordance with the conclusions of the Luxembourg European Council. The
Presidency and the Commission will pursue the necessary contacts.
Accession implies full acceptance of the
actual and potential rights and obligations attaching to the Union system and its
institutional framework, known as the «acquis» of the Union. This will include the
Treaty of Amsterdam, once it enters into force, which represents the latest stage of
European construction.
Accession also demands effective
implementation of the «acquis», which requires in particular the establishment of an
efficient, reliable public administration.
The negotiations with Cyprus will be
conducted on the basis of the same pricniples and criteria as the negotiations with the
other applciants. The pace of progress will depend upon Cyprus’s individual situation.
Your acceptance of the rights and
obligations resulting from membership may give rise exceptionally to transitional
measures, to be defined during the accession negotiations. Any such measures must be
limited in time and scope, and accompanied by a plan with clearly defined stages for
application of the «acquis».
And enlargement must strengthen the process
of continuous creation and integration in which the Union and its Member States are
engated. We need to make sure that the institutional structures of the Union are not
weakened or diluted, or its powers of action reduced.
With that I would once again welcome your
presence here today, and stress the Presidency’s determination to make good progress in
the opening stages of the negotiations.
