Unusual characteristics: The Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council clearly has some unusual characteristics. The special edition of our EUROPE/Documents series (No 2567) provided our readers with all the information and useful pointers, and an overview of the six-month programme by the minister for European affairs. Every Cypriot minister has also presented the European Parliament with the intentions for his/her sector which - thanks to the active cooperation of the EU Council's secretariat - are thorough, reasonable and sometimes even bold. Our bulletin reported on them regularly. I will now add a few personal considerations on the unusual characteristics of Cyprus as I find these generally quite interesting.
The presidency of the EU Council of Ministers has partly lost its splendour since the heads of state or government have had their institution with its permanent president. But the situation of Cyprus is made up of unusual characteristics - part of its territory is in practice occupied by a third country, which is an EU accession candidate country, principally concerned with obtaining EU financial support. At the same time, Cyprus has requested and obtained a loan from a country outside the EU - as far away as Russia. Cyprus' ownership of the gas which has been discovered near its coast is partly contested, and the Cypriot president is the only high level figure in the EU who is Communist. Cyprus' GDP accounts for 0.2% of the EU's GDP (€12 billion), but the turnover of its banks is nine times this, with Russia being their main client (€15-20 billion in deposits, which explains the Russian loan).
The past and the present. From ancient times the destiny of Cyprus has been mythical, magical and eventful. This is the island where Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, was born. Cyprus has belonged to the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, Venice, the Ottomans and the British. It obtained its independence in 1960, but, since 1974 and the invasion of its north part by the Turkish army, the island has been divided into two. It became a member of the EU in 2004. It is 3,000 kilometres from Brussels, while the coast of Syria is only 100 kilometres away.
The Cypriot authorities operate a clear and definite separation between their responsibility of presiding over the Council and their attitude to Turkey, which does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and refuses to cooperate with it (see details in the last EUROPE/Documents series) - but these authorities in principle support Turkey's accession to the EU. It is not their support which will make me change my mind on the bad timing of such a development (which has absolutely no chance of a successful ending anyway).
Cyprus attributes its current financial difficulties to the monetary turbulence in Greece, and the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF have sent a mission there to examine the situation. Their examination is still ongoing. The Eurogroup has only said that a memorandum (like the one which governs its relations with Greece) will be finalised in September. The Cypriot authorities could ask for €5 billion, to which €2.5 billion could be added from Moscow on conditions which would be more favourable than those of the EU/IMF loan, according to the Cypriot president, Demetris Christofias. What is more, the Russian loan would be granted without any political conditions as the links between Moscow and Cyprus are cultural and traditional (see EUROPE 10648). And Mr Christofias studied in a Russian university to boot.
A few encouraging elements. In the situation I have described, which is complex and in some aspects confusing, the Cypriot ministers are organising and presiding over the EU Council sessions. Some observers wonder whether it is time to reflect on the current system of rotating the EU Council presidency, or at least on the possibility of making the mechanism for rotation less rigid.
But we should remember that the current complications involve at the same time elements which can be considered as encouraging - for example, our readers certainly won't have forgotten the initiatives of some of the Cypriots of Turkish origin who fight for the reunification of their island because they feel they are citizens of the EU and want to become so legally (see EUROPE 10652).
We have to admit that, given its situation, the Cypriot Presidency is not in a position to contribute effectively to solving the difficulties which the functioning and even existence of the euro are up against. These questions are not for the Council anyway, and are essentially discussed elsewhere - by the heads of state or government, the Eurogroup and the European Central Bank. Cyprus is amongst those asking for support and its request will be studied by the Eurogroup in September. Let's not forget this.
(FR/transl.fl)