Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna presented a concise overview of Cyprus' six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union as she arrived at the final General Affairs Council (GAC) under the Cypriot Presidency in Luxembourg on Tuesday morning.
Describing the past six months as "a long and demanding journey, but above all a hugely rewarding journey," Raouna stressed that Cyprus had worked with a clear vision and a clear objective of delivering tangible results for the European Union.
"Throughout these six months, the Cyprus Presidency worked with a very clear methodology and with a very clear vision," she said, adding that "across all strands of our work, we worked with perseverance, with strong focus, with a lot of hard work and with transparency and inclusivity towards all Member States."
"We were driven by a very clear goal: to bring tangible results, to be a results-driven Presidency that delivers under our overarching motto, 'An Autonomous Union, Open to the World'," she noted. "Today, 14 days before the end of the Cyprus Presidency, I am both particularly pleased and humbled to be able to say that we have delivered results on the European agenda across all five of our priorities, contributing to a European Union that is stronger, more resilient and more autonomous," she added.
Referring to the achievements of the six-month term, the Deputy Minister highlighted progress in security and defence, ranging from support for Ukraine and the €90 million Ukraine Support Loan to the 20th sanctions package and military mobility. "Military mobility has progressed significantly at the Council," she said, while on migration she pointed to results in "the implementation of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, as well as the completion of negotiations on the Returns Regulation."
Raouna placed particular emphasis on competitiveness, describing it as "a key pillar" of the Cypriot Presidency. "We have advanced seven Omnibus packages, comprising 20 proposals, and have already completed work on around nine of them, with work continuing even today," she said.
She also referred to progress on the reform of the Customs Union, describing it as "the biggest revision of the Customs Union," as well as agreements reached in the area of connectivity. "Yesterday, we reached a very important agreement on Air Passengers' Rights," she said, adding that an agreement had also been secured on Regulation 883 concerning the social security rights of workers.
Turning to Tuesday's agenda, Raouna noted that discussions would focus on the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), a file which, she said, had been "one of our most challenging files from the very beginning." As she said, "we worked with the same methodology, with hard work and in close cooperation with all Member States in order to be able to deliver."
Raouna recalled that on 11 June the Cyprus Presidency presented the first revised negotiating box (NegoBox) containing concrete figures. "In our view, this proposal is a decisive step towards achieving our goal of reaching an agreement by the end of 2026," she said, adding that "we took on board the positions, often very opposing positions, of Member States and reflected them, with full respect, in a compromise proposal." As she stressed, the proposal "is certainly not the end of the line, but it paves the way forward to be able to reach an agreement by the end of 2026."
Concluding, Raouna underlined that enlargement had been a top priority of the Cyprus Presidency. "Cyprus is the last Member State of the European Union that remains divided and under occupation, and it understands well the transformative power of enlargement and the fact that it is the best security guarantee," she said.
Referring to Monday's Intergovernmental Conferences with Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro in Luxembourg, she described it as "a truly milestone day on enlargement," noting that "we held three IGCs on the same day." As she added, "we are proud to have contributed to creating more momentum in the enlargement process."
(Source: CNA)
