President of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) Koen Lenaerts said on Tuesday that it is very important for the Court to experience what is on the ground in the member states, adding that "when we speak about Cyprus it is of course the fact that part of the territory of this member state is being occupied".
Lenaerts, accompanied by a delegation of the Court visiting Cyprus, was received by President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace.
Welcoming the 16-member delegation, Christodoulides said the visit is very timely having in mind that Cyprus will assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU in less than 57 days, noting that we "have been working hard during the last two years in order to have a successful presidency."
Last divided EU state
Your visit, he said, is "also very important having in mind that you are visiting the last divided and under occupation EU member state and for us the EU's laws, values and principles are very important in our efforts to solve the Cyprus problem and reunite our country."
He recalled that when Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, it was done with Protocol 10 that says that the implementation of the acquis communautaire is suspended in the areas not under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus.
He spoke about common challenges with the Court, such as the time of the decisions, the digital transformation and said that it is important to see how the Court is facing these challenges.
The President also pointed out that there is a discussion in the European Council "with full respect of the independence of the Court, with the rule of law and democracy, migration, a number of challenges that we are also going to deal with during our presidency."
President of the Court, Koen Lenaerts, said that for the Court of Justice of the EU it is very important to experience what is on the ground in the member states, adding that "when we speak about Cyprus it is of course the fact that part of the territory of this member state is being occupied but it is also the geographical position of Cyprus as the most advanced post of the EU next to the Middle East and all that this implies in geostrategic terms and also in migration terms."
Law should be equally enforced
On Monday, he added, the delegation had a very fruitful exchange with the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus and with the Supreme Court. He said that the CJEU is a court, meaning that it is not on its own initiative picking up cases but cases are always being brought before the court and they are mainly being brought before the court by national courts inquiring with the CJEU what the correct understanding of the common law of Europe is, which means EU law, a law common to 27 states.
"A law which needs to remain common in its interpretation, application and enforcement this way guaranteeing equality of all member states and their peoples in front of Union law. And every legal system can only sustainably survive when the equality before the law is being ensured. That is what our Court does".
He added that it is also a Court like a Constitutional Court which verifies whether all the legislative and executive acts of the EU itself comply with the primary law of the Union which is the constitutional foundation of the common legal order, including the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU.
"And implementing the Charter brings us close to what you referred to here, democracy, rule of law, human rights and that basically what member states have to uphold," Lenaerts concluded.
CNA