Nicholas Emiliou on The Challenge of EU Enlargement - A View from Nicosia - Events - IIEA - The Institute of International and European Affairs

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About this Event

24 Nov 2010 @ 12:45

About the Speech:

Ambassador Emiliou traced the history of the accession of Cyprus to the EU and spoke about future EU enlargement and Turkey’s path towards membership. The Ambassador, who served as the envoy of Cyprus to Ireland for three years until 2002, noted that Ireland was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Cyprus in 1960. He said that since joining in 2004, Cyprus has actively supported future EU enlargement, and the Cypriot government considers it the best way to ensure political, economic and social stability. The Ambassador emphasised that the credibility and success of the enlargement process requires the enforcement of rigorous conditionality for the applicants.

Ambassador Emiliou described Turkey as the most formidable challenge for EU enlargement, not for religious reasons, but because of its size. He emphasised what a difficult decision it was for Cyprus to approve the opening of negotiations with Turkey in 2004, primarily because Turkish forces have occupied a third of Cyprus’s territory since 1974, and because Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus. The third issue addressed was the extension of Turkey’s customs union to cover only nine of the new member states in 2005, leaving Cyprus outside of this union.

According to the ambassador, fourteen of Turkey’s accession chapters remain frozen, six of these have been unilaterally blocked by Cyprus, and the Ambassador concluded that negotiations would not continue for much longer, unless Turkey complies with its remaining obligations. The EU called on Turkey to recognise all EU member states and to normalise relations with Cyprus. Cyprus however has so far not found Turkey to be willing to do so.

About the Speaker:

Ambassador Emiliou has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus since August 2008. Prior to this he was Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the European Union in Brussels. He is the author of numerous academic articles and books on issues of the European Union, public international law and public law.

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