A critical assessment of the Cyprus protocol annexed to the UK’s withdrawal agreement: The consensual continuation of a metacolonial realm
Abstract
A European Commission memo mentions that UK’s Withdrawal Agreement covers inter alia ‘a protocol on the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, protecting the interests of Cypriots who live and work’ there. This paper suggests that this is neither an accurate nor a fair description. The Protocol may protect some of the rights ascribed to Cypriot citizens due to their EU identity, but at the same time it preserves certain strategic interests of the UK in Cyprus. As such, the Protocol echoes some major elements of a metacolonial realm in Cyprus. This however, is yet another instance demonstrating the consent of the government of Cyprus for the continuation of that realm. The Protocol assigns to the UK the authority for applying the Union’s acquis in the ‘base areas’, whereas the Republic of Cyprus is considered a UK-entrusted EU Member State ‘with responsibility for implementing and enforcing provisions of Union law in the Sovereign Base Areas’. © 2018, University of Nicosia. All rights reserved.