Starting July 1st Cyprus has taken over the reigns of the EU’s six-month rotating presidency for the first time since its accession to the EU in 2004. Cyprus’s term kicks off amidst an ongoing economic crisis and tensions with EU-hopeful Turkey. A few days before assuming the presidency of the European Council, the Cypriot authorities called on its partners in the Eurozone and the IMF to help salvage its banking sector, at present severely exposed to the Greek crisis. In the next six months Cyprus hopes to prevent a financial chaos in the Eurozone, given that 5 Eurozone countries are experiencing difficulties and have already sought bailout.
However, the authorities in Nicosia say they will try to turn challenges into opportunities. But what exactly are the priorities of Cyprus’s presidency? Top of the list is the completion of negotiations between member states regarding the 2014-2020 EU budget by the end of the year. Cyprus hopes to reach an agreement on a balanced budget that will stimulate economic growth and create more jobs. Moreover, this country also hopes to work towards a better Europe, more relevant to its citizens, a European Union working on the basis of solidarity and more devoted to general human values.
The Cypriot presidency will also focus on furthering EU enlargement, including to Turkey, even though Ankara said it would not cooperate with Cyprus because of the deadlock in negotiations over the island’s reunification. Cyprus is the only EU country with a divided population. Although the country became part of the EU in 2004, only the southern Greek-speaking regions are de facto part of the larger EU family. The north-eastern part of Cyprus, which was occupied by the Turkish army in 1974, was self-proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state recognized only by Turkey.
Cyprus’s communist president Demitris Christofias is aware that the situation may have an impact on his country’s current EU presidency. He said recently that Cyprus is willing to continue the dialogue towards solving this issue during its term at the helm of the EU, provided Turkey does the same.
Another priority on Cyprus’s agenda as holder of the EU presidency is the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the travel-free Schengen area. Originally slated for March 2011, the two countries’ entry has been repeatedly blocked by France, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, who invoked the insufficient amount of progress made by the two countries in their fight against corruption. At present the Netherlands is the only country still opposing Romania’s Schengen accession pending the official release this month of the European Commission’s report as part of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
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2025-04-03
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