The European Union–Turkey Controversy over Cyprus or a Tale of Two Treaty Declarations

Abstract

When the European Council in 2004 decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey, it linked Turkey's accession process with the Cyprus problem and made the signature of an Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Customs Union Agreement extending this Agreement to the ten new Member States of the Union, including the Republic of Cyprus, a precondition for the start of accession negotiations. Not having been recognizing the Republic of Cyprus since 1963, Turkey had to avoid everything that could be interpreted as a recognition of the Republic of Cyprus when concluding the Additional Protocol. This led Turkey in September 2005 to make a "Declaration on Cyprus" when signing the Protocol which, in turn, triggered a counter declaration by the European Community and its Member States. The two declarations do not qualify as reservations but are general statements of policy or, at best, interpretative declarations that do not have any effect on the substance of the Protocol and that are not binding upon the parties.