Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-16-Speech-3-131"
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"en.20000216.9.3-131"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, I would like to present to you certain information about the re-opening of the intra-Cyprus negotiations and recent developments in this area.
There is also another important aspect which I referred to at the beginning of my statement, and this relates to Turkey’s role in helping the north of the island to prepare for accession. We believe that it is not only necessary to read the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council with some care and attention, but that we should also take advantage of the willingness of the Turkish authorities to help to resolve this situation.
I was able to talk to Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit about this issue when I visited Ankara myself, and although we are aware of the difficulties and sensitivity associated with Turkey’s particular approach to this question, I believe that there is a window of opportunity that we must not miss. This window of opportunity involves combining various factors, one of which – and let us be frank about this – is the nature of the relationship between Turkey and the European Union. This is key as regards the future of this issue.
On the other hand, we think it is important – and this is also linked with the way in which the European Union relates to the heart of this matter – that an exchange of information between the Commission and the Cypriots in the north of the island should be encouraged. This would not, let me make this quite clear, imply any kind of formal recognition. Nevertheless, we believe, and I think this is also how the Commission sees things, that the whole process of approximation with the
with a view to overall integration of the island in the European Union through accession at some point in the future implies involving the communities in the north of the island as soon as possible. It may also give the European Union access to data enabling it to justify accession, as part of its efforts to assess accession conditions.
Furthermore, this means that we in the Council – and I think that Parliament will join us in this – should encourage the Commission’s involvement in this undertaking. It is essential for us to send the Commission a message of confidence about its role in this area.
Lastly, I believe – and this is also the presidency’s intention – that we should continue to cooperate actively with the United Nations, given the skilful, intelligent and capable way in which the Secretary-General, and the UN organisation in general, have conducted these discussions, and in particular the way they have endeavoured to help to harmonise the two parties’ positions. As I said at the beginning, the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council last December have had a visible impact on the way the positions of the various parties to this process have developed. The Nicosia Government has expressed its satisfaction with the Helsinki conclusions, which open up the way to accession to the European Union without solving the partition of the island beforehand. Nevertheless, I have to say that the same authorities have expressed their concern about the pressure they may come under to resolve the issues raised by partition, which will evidently imply some concessions. This is related to developments in the sphere of displaced people and the possibility of a new arrangement regarding displaced people should a different solution be found for the island.
On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriots fear – and there is no point in trying to conceal this – that Turkey’s application for membership of the European Union may lead to greater flexibility in Ankara’s position on this. I believe that, despite the fears that may be felt by the two communities on the island, these points, which could be viewed in a negative light by the authorities on both sides, may in the end justify hopes of an ultimate solution.
It is very clear that this solution will involve one of the most important aspects of relations in this area at present, which is the extremely positive trend in relations between Athens and Ankara and the very important part played in these relations by the Greek Foreign Minister, Giorgios Papandreou, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem. We believe that this has created the framework for a positive outcome. As far as we, the Council presidency, are concerned, we will continue to follow these developments very closely, and we will certainly cooperate with the Secretary-General and his personal representative on this matter. We will make the Community institutions aware of what we are able to do, and what is possible in general, as regards coordination, not just at political level but also as regards what the Commission itself can achieve in terms of its scope for managing the accession process. In particular, we will make known the flexibility that both parties have demonstrated on this issue.
I think it will be obvious to everyone that the events in Helsinki at the end of last year and the new era in relations between the European Union and Turkey have created a new backdrop, at Community level, which we cannot ignore when it comes to relations between the two Cypriot communities.
At the beginning of December 1999, the first round of negotiations were held in New York, after an interruption of several years in negotiations between the Cypriot communities in the north and south of the island. These negotiations took the form of indirect discussions mediated by the UN special representative, Álvaro de Soto. A further round was held in January this year, starting on 31 January, and a third round is scheduled to start on 23 May in New York. There is a possibility, which has not yet been absolutely confirmed, that continuous and direct discussions may take place, with work continuing until September this year.
These discussions essentially cover four areas: security, the structure of government, territorial adjustments and issues relating to refugees and compensation, as a result of the situation following the partition of the island. However, agreement has also been reached on the possibility of including other issues, and the representative of the northern part of the island, Rauf Denktash, has suggested three new topics: sovereignty, confidence-building measures and the issue of lifting the embargo on products from the north of the island.
The discussions held so far have essentially resulted in two developments. The first is the possibility of opening up a direct information channel between the European Union and the north of the island, without this necessarily signifying recognition of this part of the island as a legal personality at international level, but as a means of facilitating adoption of the
with a view to eventual accession of the whole island, if a solution can, in the meantime, be found to the broader problem of the partition of the island.
The second development which we regard as important is the statement made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations at the end of the first day’s discussions to the effect that an overall settlement of the situation would involve recognition of the specific situation of the north of the island. This is the position of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and it will therefore have to form part of our future analysis.
Certain expectations exist about the third round of negotiations, in view of the proposed scenarios being prepared with the involvement of representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom, in particular in the areas of security and the constitutional structure, which it is envisaged will be presented at this round through the good offices of the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. This will take place after the election in the north of the island scheduled for 18 April.
Furthermore, the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union has decided, following the example of previous presidencies, to appoint a representative to establish contacts with the various parties involved in this issue. This representative has already contacted all these parties and has, in close cooperation with the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, been monitoring and assisting with the work of the various rounds. In particular, we intend that the European Union should maintain a constant profile on this issue, and of course all the more so since Cyprus is a candidate for membership of the European Union with negotiations at a fairly advanced stage. This naturally raises certain expectations and means that the role of the European Union is of some relevance in this context.
The approach that we have been following in these discussions, and our participation in them, essentially turns on taking advantage of a certain desire to alleviate the tensions that exist, based on a conviction – which appears to be widely shared – that it is necessary to continue to negotiate, and that continuing negotiations and maintaining their impetus also give rise to hopes that a definitive solution can be found."@en1
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