Brussels, 07/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Friday the European Commission and Cyprus reached a preliminary agreement in Nicosia on strengthening trade between north and south of the island. This agreement means that all barriers to trade in citrus fruit are finished with and that everyone crossing the border can have 135 euros on them as opposed to 30 euros as in the past. The can also carry up to 1 litre of alcohol and 40 cigarettes. These provisions have just strengthened the regulation of facilitating trade, which entered into force on 1 May 2004, when Cyprus joined the EU. This agreement, however, is only a preliminary one and still has to be approved by the Council.
A diplomat indicated that the Republic of Cyprus considers that this improvement in trade between the north and south of the island is “sufficient”. The same source underlined the fact that citrus fruit was the main product in the north and fell under the control of the “self proclaimed Turkish republic of Cyprus”. The Republic of Cyprus is in effect continuing to oppose the European Commission proposal on facilitating direct trade between the two sides of the island and considers that trade has to go through its territory.
The European Commission believes, however, that trade between the north and south of the island should not replace the proposal on direct trade, as this proposal is “much wider, allowing for trade between the north and the whole of the European Union, not just between the north and south”. The regulation on direct trade is still blocked at the Council by Cyprus and Greece. On the other hand, everyone agrees that the regulation under review will provide aid of EUR 259 million to Turkish Cypriots but that the two proposals were for the instant regarded as being welded together by certain Member States, such as the United Kingdom.
The Anatolia Agency announced that Turkish Cypriots are not pleased with the extension of trade between the south of the island. Turkish Cypriot leader Memet Ali Talat declared that the Turkish side of the island wanted to directly export to the European Union via its ports of Gazimagusa and Girne, as well as its airport, Ercan. He added that only direct trade would end isolation.