Cyprus and the EU

The Road to Accession

Constantin Stefanou

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781138619289
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351160261
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Teoría y práctica del derecho

This informative book provides an in-depth study of Cyprus' efforts to join the European Union. It examines the various steps taken towards harmonization in various contexts, the suitability of the country for EU accession, and the political problems surrounding the Cypriot EU accession. Constantin Stefanou also broadens the scope to consider the wider issues surrounding EU accession negotiations for applicant countries, especially with reference to the new and untested EU guidelines. The volume will be of great value to those interested in Europe and the European Union in general, and European Law and the development of Cyprus in particular.

1
Introduction

CONSTANTIN STEFANOU

When all the joy of the official opening of EU accession negotiations has subsided, when the last official has drank the last glass of champagne and wished the applicant good luck with their efforts to accede, the real work begins. And most of the work concentrates in one area: transposition of the EU acquis into national law. Yet, despite the fact that transposition constitutes the backbone of an applicant country’s effort to complete the accession process it tends to receive very little attention. There are, of course, very good reasons for the ‘low profile’ of transposition. Being largely a process carried out by legislative drafters and national ministry officials in consultation with EU bureaucrats it is neither glamorous nor the subject of political posturing. It receives no media coverage and in academic terms it is usually the subject of dry, short commentaries about amendments to existing legislation.

This book concentrates on Cyprus’s efforts to transpose the EU acquis into the Cypriot legal system and the problems experienced by an often neglected group of experts: the drafters who carried out the process of transposition. With the kind permission of the European Union Section of the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus, a specialised unit set up to speed-up the process of transposition, the experts who transposed the acquis and assisted in the negotiations with their technical expertise have been allowed to contribute to this book. Their views, along with the views of other contributors, offer important insights into the rarely examined process of transposition, which chronologically coincides with the negotiation procedure between the EU and Cyprus.

The formal relationship between Cyprus and the EU¹ (see Table 1.1) dates back to 1972 and the EC-Cyprus Association Agreement which was temporarily abandoned following the 1974 invasion of the island by Turkey. Strictly speaking, Cyprus’ efforts to harmonise go back to 1987 and the re-activation of the EC-Cyprus Association Agreement with the signing of a Protocol. However, as Cyprus always had close trade links with Greece and the UK, approximation and streamlining of national legislation with that of the EU was always on-going so that Cyprus’s products would not be barred from the European markets, e.g. the EU’s packaging Directive. In fact, it was the 1987 Protocol that provided for the harmonisation of accompanying policies on competition, state aids and the approximation of laws

The negotiation procedure of the EU with Cyprus was, of course, similar to that of the other applicant countries. It consisted of two phases.

• Acquis screening: the detailed examination of the laws, institutions and procedures of the applicant country in order to determine whether they comply with the acquis.
• Substantive negotiations: discussions/negotiations concerning transitional arrangements or derogations.

As the acquis communautaire consists of about 80,000 pages both screening and substantive negotiations are tedious and elaborate processes which are normally completed amongst groups of experts away from the limelight. The screening of the acquis is particularly important as it determines the breadth of work that the applicant country will have complete in order to close the 29 chapters – roughly one for each policy area – which the Commission hands over to all applicants. In total, there are 31 chapters, but only the first 29 are ‘negotiable’ and must be completed in order to be eligible for accession. These chapters are:

1. Free Movement of Goods
2. Free Movement of Persons
3. Freedom to Provide Services
4. Free Movement of Capital
5. Company Law
6. Competition Policy
7. Agriculture
8. Fisheries
9. Transport
10. Taxation
11. Economic and Monetary Union
12. Statistics
13. Social Policy / Employment
14. Energy
15. Industrial Policy
16. Small and Medium-Sized Undertakings
17. Science and Research
18. Education, Vocational Training and Youth
19. Telecommunications and Information Technologies
20. Culture and Audio-Visual Policy
21. Regional Policy / Structural Instruments
22. Environment
23. Consumers and Health Protection
24. Justice and Home Affairs
25. Customs Union
26. External Relations
27. Common Foreign and Security Policy
28. Financial Control
29. Financial and Budgetary Provisions
30. Institutions
31. Other

Table 1.1 Cyprus and the EU: a chronology

1972 December	EC-Cyprus Association Agreement signed: a two stage agreement aiming to eliminate barriers to trade and create an EC-Cyprus Customs Union (the second stage of the agreement was due to commence in 1977).
1974 July	Turkey invades Cyprus and the island is partitioned.
1977	EC postpones 2nd stage of EC-Cyprus Association Agreement.
1983	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is proclaimed. It is not recognised by any of the 12 EC member states.
1987 October	Second stage of EC-Cyprus Association Agreement is activated and a Protocol is signed (effective from 1 January 1988). According to the Protocol the Customs Union between Cyprus and the EC should be completed by 2002 or 2003 at the latest. Cyprus undertakes the obligation to adopt progressively the EC’s Common Customs Tariff.
1990...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Foreward
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Route to EU Accession
• 3. The Harmonisation of Cyprus’ Agricultural Sector with the Acquis Communautaire
• 4. The Harmonisation of Air Transport in the Republic of Cyprus
• 5. Harmonising Competition and State Aid rules
• 6. The Environment
• 7. Harmonization of the Acquis Relating to EMU and Free Movement of Capital
• 8. Freedom of Establishment and Free Movement of Services: An Opportunity to Harmonise and Liberalise the Cyprus Service Sector
• 9. Cypriot Intellectual Property Law: the European Dimension
• 10. Social Policy and Employment
• 11. The Preparation of Cyprus for Justice and Home Affairs: Nomos and Politics on the Troubled Waters of the Mediterranean
• 12. Cyprus in the EU: A Small State Perspective
• 13. Beyond Transposition of the Acquis: Can Cyprus Maintain the Momentum?
• Index