Brussels, 27/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - With 27 out of 30 chapters provisionally closed, Cyprus has made "extraordinary progress in the accession negotiations" according to the statement issued by the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee after their 22/24 May meeting in Nicosia (Cyprus). After attending the meeting the Cypriot Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous, said he was convinced that "the negotiations would soon be finished" "in agriculture, which was one of the most difficult chapters to close". The Cypriot and European members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee again said that the "solution of the Cyprus problem (the division of the island, Ed) before Cyprus's accession to the Union would be beneficial for all parties without being a precondition for EU membership". In the final statement, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said that "the ongoing talks created the best opportunity to find a solution to the Cyprus problem and also in relation to Cyprus' accession to the EU". The Joint Parliamentary Committee also stressed the importance of the EuroMed partnership and the Barcelona process and was positive about the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. The next meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee will be held at the European Parliament in late autumn 2002.