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Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Alan Meale (Labour), on Tuesday, 17 January 1995, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 66 members in total.

APPLICATION OF CYPRUS TO JOIN THE EEC

That this House supports the application of Cyprus to gain member status of the European Union, which will be reviewed in January in line with the consensus of the Corfu and Essen summits; urges that the review be based on an examination of the economic merits of Cyprus; is anxious that the total absence of political will from the Turkish Cypriot side in negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem, which has too often brought United Nations efforts to a halt, should not hold to ransom the credible application of the Republic of Cyprus and the responsibility of the United Kingdom as a guarantor power to the independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus; and in such a capacity urges Her Majesty's Government to act in any way possible to advance progress toward a solution of the Cyprus problem including establishing mechanisms of co-operation to find a just and lasting solution to the division of the island, in negotiating the return of land and property to the rightful owners, in acting to stop the destruction of the Greek Cypriot heritage in the illegally occupied area in removing the vast Turkish military presence from the island and in revealing the fate of the 1,619 Greek Cypriots missing since the illegal invasion of 1974.

Amendments

The Early day motion has received an amendment.

APPLICATION OF CYPRUS TO JOIN THE EEC (396A1)
The Early day motion has received an amendment sponsored by Keith Speed (primary, Conservative) and tabled on Wednesday, 1 February 1995. It has been signed by 22 members in total.
leave out from `House' to end and add `objects to the application for membership of the EU made by the Greek Cypriot government of Southern Cyprus purporting to act on behalf of Cyprus as a whole; considers that the application is illegal since by Article 1 of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Cyprus cannot "participate in whole or in part, in any political or economic union with any State whatsoever"; reminds the governments of the United Kingdom and Greece that by Article 2 of the same Treaty they bound themselves to "prohibit, so far as lies within their power, all activity having the object of promoting directly or indirectly... the union of the Republic of Cyprus with any other state"; congratulates President Denktas on his acceptance (UN Doc. S/1994/1330) of the UN confidence building measures and deplores the refusal of the Greek Cypriot side to do so; reminds the Greek Cypriots that in accordance with UN Doc. S/24472 Cyprus cannot join the EU without the approval of the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots in separate referendums; and considers that any further attempt to force such a fundamental step will make the union of Northern Cyprus with Turkey almost inevitable.'.

Secondary information

Type
Early day motion
Reference
396 
396A1 
Session
1994-95
Subjects
Cyprus EU accession European Union
Link
View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk