CYPRUS: Green Line Regulation not fit for purpose
As reunification talks seem to be going nowhere, confidence building measures (CBMs) to rebuild trust like Green Line trade has also stagnated. By Kyriacos Kiliaris (As published in the Financial Mirror) One of the most important CMBs in encouraging people-to-people contact is trade through the EU Green Line Regulation but figures are significantly lower than 10 years ago. While the Green Line Regulation, implemented in August 2004, seemed to be a promising step, figures for products sold by Greek Cypriots to Turkish Cypriots have remained stable for a decade, while sales of Turkish Cypriot products to the south have plunged. While stakeholders on both sides of the divide agree that trade between the two communities is probably the most important CMB which could lay the groundwork for peaceful coexistence in the +future, trade figures could be a lot better. Since its introduction in 2004, Greek Cypriots have sold products worth a total of EUR 14 mln to traders in the nor