A4-0159/99

Resolution on the Regular Report from the Commission on Cyprus¨ progress towards accession (COM(98)0710 - C4-0108/99)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the application for membership of the European Union submitted by Cyprus on 4 July 1990,

- having regard to the opinion of the European Commission on this application for membership of 30 June 1993 (COM(93)0313 - C4-0583/97),

- having regard to the Regular Report from the Commission on Cyprus¨ progress towards accession of 17 December 1998 (COM(98)0710 - C4-0108/99),

- having regard to the Commission's composite paper: Regular reports from the Commission on progress towards accession by each of the candidate countries of 17 December 1998 (COM(98)0712 - C4-0107/99),

- having regard to its previous resolutions, in particular the resolution of 12 July 1995 on Cyprus' application for membership of the European Union (( OJ C 249, 25.9.1995, p. 74.)) and the resolution of 4 December 1997 on 'Agenda 2000 - towards a greater and stronger Union¨ (( OJ C 388, 22.12.1997, p. 17.)),

- having regard to the decision of the European Council of 12 and 13 December 1997 to start accession negotiations with the government of Cyprus on 30 March 1998 and intensified accession negotiations on 10 November 1998,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinions of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee on External Economic Relations and the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media (A4-0159/99),

A. whereas the policy of the Union has constantly been based on the recognition of the one and only government in accordance with the UN Resolutions and the wish to allow the whole of the Cypriot population to enjoy the benefits of relations with the EU,

B. whereas the progress in the present negotiations confirms that Cyprus is economically ready to join the EU and will not have substantial problems to incorporate the acquis communautaire in time,

C. whereas the Regular Report from the Commission on Cyprus' progress towards accession could only focus on the southern part of the island, since reliable data about the north are lacking, due to the lack of willingness of the leadership in the northern part to cooperate with the Commission,

D. whereas the Commission states in the Regular Report from the Commission on Cyprus's progress towards accession that 'the integration of the northern part of Cyprus, especially if taking place in the context of Cyprus accession of the EU, will not raise major difficulties, because of its relatively small size and its potential, in particular in terms of agriculture and tourism¨,

E. whereas according to UN figures the northern part of Cyprus is populated by 89,000 Turkish Cypriots, 110,000 mainland Turkish settlers and 35,000 mainland Turkish troops, which implies that the northern part of Cyprus is in majority populated by mainland Turks,

F. whereas the solution of the Cyprus problem will be facilitated by the unhindered continuation of the accession negotiations; insisting however that the accession negotiations should be kept separate from efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem,

G. whereas the European Court of Human Rights, in a ruling dated 28 July 1998, has ordered Turkey to pay compensation to a Greek Cypriot refugee for barring her access to her property in the northern part of the island,

H. whereas the negotiations with regard to the Cyprus problem have come to a virtual standstill, due to the lack of willingness on behalf of Mr Denktash to reengage in negotiations unless certain conditions are accepted,

I. whereas the 'proposal for a lasting solution in Cyprus¨ by the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Mr Denktash, is nothing more than an attempt to establish a confederal model with two independent entities, in contradiction to UN resolutions,

J. welcoming the UN Security Council Resolutions 1217 and 1218 (1998) of 22 December 1998, which extended the mandate of the UNFICYP until 30 June 1999 and aimed, through a staged process at limiting and then substantially reducing the level of all troops and armaments on Cyprus,

K. welcoming the decision by President Clerides not to deploy the SAM 300 missiles on the island of Cyprus,

L. whereas the accession negotiations have progressed very smoothly, considering that already 7 of the 29 chapters of negotiations have been thoroughly addressed with only limited problems and that negotiations will soon be opened on 8 other chapters,

M. whereas the termination of the fourth financial protocol by the end of 1999 will leave Cyprus without an instrument of financial support to facilitate the adaptation to the acquis communautaire and the preparation of EU membership,

Accession negotiations

1. Welcomes the progress made in the negotiations for accession of Cyprus to the European Union;

2. Welcomes the substantial progress made in adaptation to the acquis communautaire and encourages Cyprus to reinforce its administrative capacity in some fields, such as the internal market, sea transport, telecommunications, environment, justice and home affairs;

3. Regrets the difficulties, arising at present, with regard to the acquis communautaire in the whole of Cyprus, due to the continued occupation of a part of the island and the refusal of the Turkish Cypriot leadership to participate in the negotiations;

4. Calls on the Commission to propose a financial mechanism to replace the financial protocol and calls on the Council to agree to such a mechanism before the end of the financial protocol at the end of 1999; and asks the Commission to reaffect the remaining 17 million ecus of the 4th financial protocol to the pre-accession strategy;

5. Regrets the statements of 9 November 1998 by some EU Member States opposing EU membership of Cyprus unless the partition is ended, because this weakens the EU's common foreign policy and the catalyst role the accession process could play in solving the Cyprus problem;

6. Welcomes the abolition of the death penalty by the Cyprus Government and calls for the early Cypriot ratification of the 6th additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights;

7. Welcomes the participation in certain Community programmes and agencies along the lines of the approach adopted in the case of the other applicant countries;

The Cyprus issue

8. Welcomes the decision of the President of Cyprus not to deploy the SAM 300 missiles and invites both the Turkish government and the Turkish Cypriot community to reciprocate this act by comparable confidence building measures, such as withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory;

9. Calls on Turkey to withdraw its troops from the northern part of the island, thereby complying with the United Nations resolutions;

10. Welcomes the response in unison from the EU, UN and US against the 'proposal for a lasting solution in Cyprus¨ by Mr Denktash, since this goes contrary to the numerous UN resolutions (calling for a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty and international personality), and would be a reward to Turkish aggression and to the partial occupation of Cyprus;

11. Endorses the good offices of the Secretary-General of the UN, but expresses its disappointment at the lack of substantial progress towards a solution and stresses the importance of a concerted approach of the United Nations, European Union and United States; therefore calls upon the Commission and the Council to step up their efforts to reach a lasting solution to the Cyprus problem;

12. Calls on the Cypriot government to honour its pledge to include representatives of the Turkish-Cypriot community in the Cypriot delegation to the accession negotiations and calls on the Commission and the Council to constantly keep that possibility in mind as a preferred option;

13. Calls on the Turkish-Cypriot side to participate directly in substantive talks on solving the Cyprus problem, under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General and on the basis of the UN resolutions;

14. Calls on all Member States to refrain from statements concerning the final stage of the negotiations, since the accession negotiations and the negotiations to reach a solution to the Cypriot problem are separate tracks;

15. Calls on the Commission and the Council to put pressure on Turkey, by clearly indicating that the quality of EU-Turkey relations also depends on the Turkish attitude towards the solution of the Cyprus problem;

16. Calls on the Greek government to contribute to the improvement of these relations by lifting its opposition to EU financial assistance being provided to Turkey in the framework of the EU/Turkey customs union;

17. Reiterates that enlargement will have to be accompanied by institutional changes, as has already been stated by the Parliament, the Commission and an increasing number of Member States;

18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council of the Union, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the UN and the governments of the Republic of Cyprus, Turkey and the US and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in Cyprus.

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