What benefits does Cyprus anticipate, as it joins the European Union (EU)?
” Following the EU’s invitation and the Republic’s approval of required treaties, Cyprus and nine other nations are slated to become full and active members of the EU on May 1, 2004. As a member, Cypriots will participate in the EU’s expanded free market and will also benefit from EU programs dealing with economic, social, environmental, educational, and security issues. The Republic of Cyprus has worked hard for several decades to achieve this goal. In 1998, it started formal negotiations for accession (admission) to the EU and began the process of adapting its own laws to EU regulations. (That process, which covers such policy areas as energy, agriculture, and telecommunications, is called harmonization with the acquis — the political and legal principles on which the EU is constituted.) The Republic of Cyprus has been widely recognized as a leader in making such adaptations. Indeed, as of June 2003, it was the only nation among the new EU members that could be classified as a “full-
