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Erel meeting with Kyprianou ‘very Cypriot’
By Myria Antoniadou in Brussels
E.U. HEALTH and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Markos Kyprianou yesterday discussed the state of play in extending the Green Line regulation to cover animal products with a delegation from the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), led by the group’s chief Ali Erel.
The meeting, at Kyprianou’s office in Brussels, was amicable and the atmosphere “very Cypriot” EU sources told the Mail, recalling that the TCCI has a special role in the implementation of the regulation.
The decision to extend the Green Line regulation so that animal products from the north can be traded along with vegetable products has already been taken, but its implementation is difficult as it touches upon consumer health issues – on which the EU is particularly sensitive.
These issues, which fall under the Cypriot commissioner’s jurisdiction, are always tough, the sources noted.
The Turkish Cypriot delegation was also scheduled to meet Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, with whom they were expected to raise their demand for the implementation of the trade and aid package for the north, and especially the direct trade regulation.
The two-fold package has been blocked in the Council, as the Cyprus government does not accept direct trade considering it as de facto recognition. Without decoupling, the approved financial aid regulation (259 million euros) cannot go ahead.
However, efforts for an agreement on the package will continue for as long as the two regulations remain on the table and the Commission is not asked for them to be adapted.
A British diplomat told the Mail that it will decide how to handle the regulations when the Luxembourg presidency briefs London and the Council on the outcome of its own initiative with the two sides.
The Turkish Cypriot delegation was also scheduled to meet the head of the Commission’s Turkish Cypriot task force, Leopold Maurer, as well as MEPs.
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