Brussels, 28/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - Jacques Poos Socialist politician from Luxembourg and rapporteur for the European Parliament on Cyprus's demand to join the European Union, responded sharply to British Liberal Democrat, Andrew Duff's amendments to his report. This reignited the polemic that had already been raging for three days (see EUROPE - 20 June page 3, 22 June page 6 and 27 June page 6).
Mr Poos did not criticise Mr Duff for trying to submit amendments to make the text more balanced but of rather trying to change the draft report root and branch by following the Turkish ideas on the subject to the letter. The former Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs declared that if the proposals were adopted they would mean a shift of 180° in the position of the European Parliament. He insisted that they would retroactively put Cyprus's joining the European Union into question. Mr Poos also accused Mr Duff of inventing a whole range of subterfuge to let Turkey off the hook from its obligation to comply with the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights, which would send out the wrong message to other candidate countries. Mr Poos stated that his colleague's amendments effectively constituted an entirely different text.