Cyprus: accession to the European Union and progress in negotiations

The Council regretted that the UN-sponsored talks held in August at Glion had made no progress. The Union is about to start on its enlargement on which the Commission has already presented a comprehensive communication. The Council rejects any link between the inter-communal talks and the start of the accession negotiations with Cyprus, which will start six months after the end of the IGC in accordance with decisions taken by the European Council in 1995 and reaffirmed subsequently. The Council recalled the conclusions of the Amsterdam European Council in this context.�