AKEL – Left – New Forces Action Report in the European Parliament: 20 years of action and struggle

 

1. AKEL’s perception of Europe and our participation in the EU

• We do not have a dilemma as to whether we want or do not want a united Europe. We want Europe, but we want it as its peoples want and need it. That is to say, a different Europe – a social, democratic and peaceful Europe.
• AKEL considers the EU and the European Parliament to be an arena of action and assertion first and foremost for Cyprus. As we all know a huge amount of legislation in the Cypriot parliament comes from Brussels as Directives, recommendations, regulations etc. The European Affairs Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL, from the very beginning of the processes at a European level monitors, elaborates positions, submits proposals and provides all the information to our Parliamentary Group here in Cyprus in a prompt manner on each specific legislation from Brussels.
• AKEL has accumulated 20 years of experience in the day-to-day monitoring and studying of EU issues, as well as a network of scientific assistants with expertise, well-documented positions in every policy area. They study and highlight in our country the major EU issues and have been struggling all these years with consistency at a European level for our people’s cause, for the interests of the working people and of the peoples. They transmit this knowledge and experience to the national level.

 

2. The Group of the Left

• AKEL has been associated with the Left Group in the European Parliament since and in 2004, with the accession of Cyprus to the EU, we became a member of the Group. The Left Group brings together left-wing, socialist, communist and ecological parties from many European states. That is to say, it unites forces with different ideological backgrounds, historical and national experiences in a space of common values and common political priorities for Europe: labour and social rights, peace and the prevalence of international law in EU foreign policy, democracy and the democratic functioning of the EU, environmental policies, human rights and social solidarity.
• For AKEL, this coexistence with different voices, including those of the Left too, is not only not a problem, but an asset and enriches us, too, in the way we think and elaborate our positions. For example, with parties from the green ecological left, we cooperate on environmental issues. The Scandinavian left is very active on human rights and gender equality issues. With left-wing movements and trade unions in Europe we coordinate our actions on labour demands.
• Besides, this also reflects the philosophy that has characterised the entire history and policy of AKEL for a century now here in Cyprus. Namely, the philosophy of a big and pioneering Left that dares to cooperate with people and forces not only from the broader Left, but from the entire progressive spectrum as well.

 

3. The Cyprus problem – The voice of all Cyprus

• The cause of the Cyprus problem, the struggle for the freedom and reunification of Cyprus is our first priority in our activity inside the European Parliament, but also in AKEL’s wider presence in the EU, because – apart from our presence in the European Parliament – the Party’s leadership has a regular presence and contacts with EU officials in Brussels. We are satisfied with the fact that AKEL’s role on the Cyprus problem is acknowledged at a European level.
• We are constantly waging battles so that on EU-Turkish issues, namely the Progress Reports on Turkey, strong references are included on whatever concerns the stand of the occupying power Turkey towards Cyprus, as well as the inclusion of principled positions on the Cyprus problem (Bizonal, Bicommunal Federation). We always have the Left Group as our pillar of support. Giorgos Georgiou is the shadow rapporteur on behalf of the Left Group for the Turkey Progress Report (as was Takis Hadjigeorgiou previously) and is also a member of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee.
• For example, on the issue of the missing persons of Cyprus (and Turkey’s obligation to comply on the issue) we succeeded in getting the issue included in Turkey’s Progress Reports for the first time in 2009 with an amendment tabled by the Left Group that was narrowly adopted after our hard work.
• Regarding the issue of Turkey’s violations in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus and the opening of the enclosed city of Famagusta, on the initiative taken by AKEL and the Left, debates were held in the European Parliament (2014 and 2020) which resulted in two very strong resolutions being approved by the plenary. Furthermore, we held a series of events on Famagusta, including an event in the presence of the President of the European Parliament and leading EU officials, but we also organised a mass march in Deryneia in the free-area of Famagusta with the Group’s Co-President as speaker.
• On the cooperation of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The AKEL MEP’s (and now with Niyazi Kizilyurek but also ever since 2004 all our MEP’s have been doing, since these are our policies as a Party) have highlighted through dozens of statements, questions tabled and so on the need for the protection of the Turkish Cypriot community from the policies of assimilation and domination Erdogan’s policies are imposing.
• Arms embargo on Turkey. In the last Turkey Progress Report (September 2023), AKEL on behalf of the Left Group, tabled an amendment for the imposition of an arms embargo on Turkey. However, in contrast the right-wing EPP, the Social Democrats, the Liberals, the Conservatives and the far-right formed a parliamentary majority and rejected our amendment. We stress this fact so as to make it clear who Cyprus’ real friends are.

 

4. Working people’s rights and social policies

• We often hear accusations about AKEL’s supposed “Euroscepticism”. Is it perhaps Euroscepticism if you consider there is something wrong with the EU’s economic policies when 95 million Europeans live on the poverty line and at the same time the 500 billionaires across the EU have increased their wealth by 33% in recent years? Is it Euroscepticism if you disagree with the policies of the European Central Bank which is time after time raising interest rates and skyrocketing people’s interest payments at the same time as the banks are recording unprecedented profits?
• We believe that the economic policies imposed by the Right and extremist neoliberal forces of the EU are the ones gnawing away at the European structure, putting pressure on the peoples and exacerbating inequalities between and within states.
• AKEL and the Left Group are precisely the voice that speaks out and asserts for the taxation of super-profits and wealth, for the protection of borrowers, for working people’s rights, for the protection of collective labour agreements, for the right of workers to disconnect when teleworking, for the safeguarding of health and safety at work. That is why anyone who studies the minutes of the European Parliament will find hundreds of AKEL’s positions on these labour and social issues (resolutions, amendments, questions and interventions).
• We highlight issues that affect Cypriot society: for example, foreclosures. AKEL raised at an EU level (with questions to the European Commission) the issue of protecting borrowers from the arbitrariness of the banks and unfair clauses in order to put pressure on our country to comply with the European directive and truly protect the right to housing. The relevant statement by the EU Commissioner responsible was made following a question put by Giorgos Georgiou.
• We do record achievements! As we are not a force that simply complains, but we achieve things in practice, we will refer to just two examples of achievements that reflect our philosophy:
• The amendments that were tabled by the AKEL MEP’s to the EU budget funded new programmes to fight paediatric cancer and a socio-economic mapping programme on the unequal access of children in the EU to quality cancer treatments.
• The opinion of our MEP N. Kizilyurek on internships in the EU adopted in October 2020 by a large majority by the Education Committee of the European Parliament included the basic principle that remuneration and appropriate working conditions must be guaranteed in all internships, which concerns the vast majority of European young people.

 

5. Health

Although, as it is well known, the EU complements national health policies, AKEL makes use of its presence in the European Parliament and has always taken numerous initiatives on health issues.

• For example, 15 years ago, a Report by AKEL MEP Adamos Adamou on organ transplantation and donation in the EU was approved by a large majority in the European Parliament, as well as a series of amendments on the fight against HIV/AIDS, which underlined the universal right of all people to have equal access to care, treatment and all kinds of medicines.
• On public health we led the fight to secure the right of Cyprus to be declared a GMO-free zone. This struggle continues to this day. On our own initiative, we registered for debate an issue in Parliament on new genomic techniques and after discussion we managed to send a reasoned opinion as a national parliament with our positions to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission. Unfortunately, recently the majority of the European Parliament has approved the demands set by the multinational company lobby and adopted the Regulation on new genome techniques in agriculture. This development brings mutants through the back door, at a time when member states, such as Cyprus, had succeeded in banning the cultivation of mutants on its territory.
• Two innovative proposals for the funding of two programmes for paediatric cancer with 6 million euros have been approved in the Community budget with amendments that were tabled by AKEL. We have been active during this five year term on the issue of the EU’s strategy to fight cancer, putting forward positions on the role of the public health sector in this battle.
• We have fought to secure the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ for cancer and rare disease patients so as to ensure their right to secure a loan and insurance. We began this effort in the European Parliament and brought it to the Cypriot parliament which unanimously approved AKEL’s relevant bill proposal.

 

6. The Environment

The Left Group – together with the Greens Group – is the most consistent voice in the European Parliament on ecology issues and environmental policies, with the notable difference that the Left unites environmental policies with social justice, far from the logic of the market, pollutant trade and the interests of multinational companies.

• We want the development of renewable energy with public spending to ensure clean and cheap energy for households and small businesses
• We want green taxes not to burden the peoples of Europe with the costs of green transition.
• However, the Left of course demands that the EU must approve more ambitious and legally binding targets for green transition. Realising the direct impact on peoples’ health and quality of life, we have been setting even more ambitious targets since 2007 e.g. by tabling amendments to reports for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 20% to 30%

At the same time, AKEL MEPs highlighted – with their statements and questions – issues concerning environmental protection in Cyprus, such as:

• The issue of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey which poses risks for our island and the entire region of the Eastern Mediterranean
• The big struggle we are waging to save the Akamas Peninsula, as we also did before for the protection of the occupied Karpasia Peninsula from rampant indiscriminate development.
• The demand for the creation of a European airborne firefighting base to combat fires in our island, within the framework of rescEU, for the benefit of both the Republic of Cyprus and the countries of the region.
• We supported Cyprus’ farmers on the issue of the food crisis and biodiversity by organising a debate in Brussels on how EU policies affect Cypriot agricultural production.

 

7. Democracy and the rule of law

• It is no coincidence that 3 out of 4 Cypriots respond to a Eurobarometer survey that they consider that their voice is not heard in the EU. This is precisely why we have elaborated proposals and promoted demands for democratic changes in the functioning of the EU, which AKEL presents at every opportunity in the European Parliament, such as:
• For the European Parliament to take legislative initiatives, which currently belongs to the European Commission alone.
• Fro the involvement of the European Parliament in appointing, but also the possibility of dismissing the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank, which should have independence, but must also have democratic legitimacy and accountability so that its decisions can be under scrutiny.
• We defend the equality before the law and the sovereignty of all member states, especially the smaller ones like Cyprus. We reject the abolition of the veto and call on President Christodoulides to take a clear position on the matter.
• A big issue in the EU in recent years is the sinister networks of surveillance and wiretapping in the EU which we know well in Cyprus with the black spy van case. AKEL has played a very active role in the PEGASUS European Parliament Inquiry Committee, holding the position of Vice President with AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou. This pressure will continue because neither the EU institutions, nor the Cypriot government have done what they should have done.

 

8. Human Rights

• Human rights – in all their breadth and depth – are a priority for the Left and AKEL’s activity in the European Parliament, given that the Left is synonymous with the values of equality, solidarity and respect for human dignity.
• AKEL’s activity both within and outside the European Parliament is an important arena in the fight against what poisons European societies: racism, sexism, homophobia and so on. Niyazi Kizilyurek, as coordinator of the Left in the Culture Committee, in a recent opinion on the role of education, culture, media and sport in the fight against racism, tabled a number of amendments which were approved in the final report.
• We defend the equality of LGBTI people and take initiatives with a strong symbolism, such as the proposal tabled by the AKEL MEP’s that was approved by the competent Committee of the European Parliament that awarded the European Citizenship Prize, for 2023, to Accept-LGBTI Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot Queer Cyprus Association for their actions for LGBTI rights.

 

9. Wars, EU foreign policy and militarisation

• AKEL’s positions on EU foreign policy issues, on the double standards policies pursued by the EU, on the issues of coupling with NATO and militarisation are all well-known.
• I will limit myself today to saying that in these moments that humanity, Europe and our neighbourhood are going through, AKEL is raising in the European Parliament the need for Europe to radically change its stance on Ukraine and Palestine. The Europe we want in such times would have chosen to make use of its diplomatic and economic and political weight for peace initiatives to be taken that would put an end to the wars that are now threatening the entire planet.
• We also note in relation to our role in this field that AKEL for years was the Chairperson of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with Palestine. Adamos Adamou (2007-2008), Kyriakos Triantaphyllides (2008-2009) and Neoklis Sylikiotis (2017-2019) served as Presidents of this Delegation.

 

10. Linking our European activity with Cypriot society

• These are just a few of the things that could be said about our activity – not only during this five-year term – but throughout all the 20 years we have been in the EU.
• Apart from this activity, we attach great importance to linking these actions with Cypriot society, to make it aware of what we do but above all so we could be interact.
• During these 20 years we have organised more than 150 events in Brussels and in Cyprus on European issues, with the participation of MEP’s and personalities from Europe.
• In addition, the AKEL MEP’s use their ability to host citizens in the European Parliament – not only to see the European Parliament – but by combining these Visitors Groups with numerous events, debates and activities on European issues. We estimate that more than 4,000 Cypriots – representatives of organised bodies, trade unionists, activists, NGO’s, women’s organisations, scientists, experts (not only from the spectrum of the Left), ordinary citizens of all ages, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, have had the opportunity during these 20 years to visit Brussels and participate in these valuable activities.