Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Turkish Cypriot view of the 1990
application for EC membership was that it was a
unilateral action on the part of the Greek Cypriot
administration and not on behalf of Cyprus as
a whole. The North's position was that the
bi-communal Republic of Cyprus established in
accordance with the 1959-60 Zurich and London
Agreements was still in force. Turkish Cypriots
viewed the Greek Cypriot objective to be the
destruction of these fundamental rights and
status by the accession application, and by so
doing to shift the equilibrium between Turkey
and Greece over Cyprus substantially in favour
of Greece. Once 'Cyprus' was accepted as a
member of the EU, the Treaty of Guarantee
would be inapplicable against an EU member
state and, by virtue of EU laws, all the basic
principles enshrined in the Ghali proposals
regarding a bi-zonal, bi-communal settlement
would be of no effect (Richmond, 1999).
In talks with NATO counterparts, Turkey
threatened to proceed with a 'partial integra-
tion' of the Turkish-controlled north of the
island if the EU started membership negotia-
tions with the Greek Cypriot government in the
spring of 1998. Some Turkish politicians argued
that Ankara should block entry of the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Poland to NATO by
refusing to ratify that organization's expansion.
For their part, the Greek Cypriot government's
ordering of S-300 missile systems from Russia
further heightened tension in the region (Mather
and Krushelnycky, 1998).
It was therefore with some relief that, at
the December 1999 EU leaders' summit in
Helsinki, Greece lifted the veto it had wielded
for the past decade on accession talks with
Ankara. Turkey was now assigned the status of
a candidate country, although a timetable for
accession discussions was not established.
Greece had not accepted the principle of
eventual Turkish EU membership without
imposing conditions. In addition to the normal
EU requirements for improving human rights,
democratic structures and economic reform,
Turkey would have to agree to take any territo-
rial disputes with Greece in the Aegean to the
International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Further, Turkey had to face the subsequent
prospect of 'Cyprus' becoming an EU member
in May 2004 before any internal political settle-
ment had been reached (Müftüler-Bac, 1999).
Environmental Issues
The path of accession has acted as a catalyst
for change in many aspects of national policy
for all new member states. It was during this
process that increasing attention was paid to
Malta's environmental questions, and not least
issues related to growing traffic and pollution
problems. This was reinforced by the fact that
the EC's
Regular Report
for 2002 (CEC, 2002,
pp. 60-62, 84-88) highlighted the need for
administrative capacity strengthening in the
fields of both transport and environment.
These problems held clear implications for the
vitality of the tourism industry (Attard and Hall,
2004).
Malta has one of the highest per capita
levels of car ownership in the Mediterranean
and Europe, with over 500 cars per 1000
inhabitants (Malta Transport Authority, 2003).
The number of motor vehicles on the islands
grew by 116% in the last 15 years of the
20th century. By 1998 there were four times
as many work-related trips being made by
car than by public transport (MEPA, 2002).
Further, all major international rental compa-
nies are represented in Malta, together with a
larger number of small local businesses that
run rental vehicle services in tourist areas,
such that by 2000 there were almost 340,000
annual tourist hire car contracts being issued.
The growth of this mode of transport has
heightened pressure on infrastructure and the
need for road space. Demand for such space
has been skewed by the high population
densities concentrated in just under 22% of
the land area, exacerbated by a large tourist
population concentrated in many of the same
areas, and increasing dependence on the
motor car (albeit with no motorway-grade
highway), there being no heavy or light rail
systems surviving (Attard and Hall, 2003,
2004). Table 16.1 presents a comparative over-
view of different European and Mediterranean
countries.
Malta has attracted more than a million
tourists every year since the early 1990s. Marked
seasonality has heightened pressures on the
country's infrastructure, especially energy
supply, water quality, waste disposal and trans-
port provision (Lockhart, 1997). The physical
impact of tourism is complicated and to some
