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EU Progress Report Confirmed by all, Including Greek Cyprus

By Selcuk Gultasli, Brussels
Thursday, November 09, 2006
zaman.com


The EU Commission’s Progress Report on Turkey has been adopted unanimously. Greek Cypriot Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyrianou also agreed with the report prepared by Olli Rehn, the EU Enlargement commissioner.

Kyprianou wanted the inclusion of a stronger Cyprus paragraph and a provision that would have expressed that membership talks would be suspended if Turkey did not open its ports to Greek Cypriots under the Additional Protocol in the conclusions and recommendations section of the strategy paper. However, because Kyprianou’s position was not backed by the other commissioners, he had to confirm the report. It has also been reported that the EU Commissioner for Environment Stavros Dimas from Greece, while initially supporting Kyprianou, has supported the report, given the direction of the discussions. While diplomatic sources, which spoke to Zaman, noted that the commission’s meeting was less controversial than expected, one source stated, “It would not be true if say I am not surprised by the rapid agreement of the commissioners.” The same sources also recalled that the recommendation on Cyprus theoretically covered a period until the summit to be held on Dec. 14-15; hence, until then, intense meetings should be expected on the resolution of the Cyprus issue. It has been reported that while those commissioners who wanted a stronger language sought a fixed period of time for the fulfillment of the recommendations, President of the Commission Barroso and Olli Rehn objected. The report overall suggests that the EU Commission overwhelmingly supports the Finnish Plan on the Cyprus issue.