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Cyprus

1) REFERENCES

Commission Report [COM(98) 710 final - Not published in the Official Journal]

Commission Report [COM(1999) 502 final - Not published in the Official Journal]

Commission Report [COM(2000) 702 final - Not published in the Official Journal]

Commission Report [COM(2001) 700 final - SEC(2001) 1745 - Not published in the Official Journal]

Commission Report [COM(2002) 700 final - SEC(2002) 1401 - Not published in the Official Journal]

Commission Report [COM(2003) 675 final - SEC(2003) 1202 - Not published in the Official Journal]

Treaty of Accession to the European Union [Official Journal L 236 of 23.09.2003]

2) SUMMARY

No national measures need to be adopted for transposition of the acquis in the research field. Cyprus has been participating since May 1999 in the Community's Fifth Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. This association is progressing well. The budget allocated to national research programmes has increased fourfold in three years. Cyprus is making progress in the area of telecommunications, but the record is marred by the excessively slow pace of market liberalisation .

COMMUNITY ACQUIS

The objectives of the research and technological development (RTD) activities at Community level, as provided for in Article 164 of the EC Treaty (former Article 130G) and the Framework Programme (Article 166, former Article 130I), are to make European industry more competitive, to improve the quality of life, to encourage sustainable development and to contribute to formulation of other Community policies.

The objective of Community telecommunications policy is to remove barriers to the efficient operation of the Internal Market in equipment, services and telecommunications networks, to open foreign markets to Community enterprises and to make modern services available to citizens and enterprises in the European Union. These objectives must be achieved by harmonising standards and conditions for the provision of services, liberalising the terminal equipment, services and network markets and by adopting the necessary regulatory measures.

EVALUATION

In 1994 Cyprus redirected its research and technological development (RTD) policy with the aim of adapting existing technology and fostering technological progress in certain areas of specialisation. As a result of this new approach, it has increased its expenditure on research and technological development. Some of this funding has gone towards establishing the University of Cyprus and expanding research activities by the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. Given that the "Fifth Framework Programme", in which Cyprus has been participating since 1999, is based on the principle of reciprocity, all Cypriot research programmes have been opened to institutions and researchers from EU Member States.

Cyprus has since continued to be fully associated with the Fifth Framework Programme and has expressed interest in being associated with the Sixth RTD Framework Programme (2002-2006). Cyprus has continued to increase its RTD spending in order to fill the gap with respect to EC average spending on R&D.

In the telecommunications sector, Cyprus has adopted a series of measures to implement the Community acquis, notably in the liberalisation of the terminal market, the single access code to the international telephone network and the single European emergency number. Other measures have been taken on reservation of frequency bands for GSM, the pan-European land-based public radio messaging system (ERMES) and digital European cordless telecommunications (DECT).

In April 2002, the Government issued a public consultation paper on the introduction of competition in mobile telephony and also announced that a GSM licence for a second GSM network would be granted after an auction process in November 2002. A new numbering plan came into effect in July 2002. The tariffs rebalancing scheme was completed in April 2002, but cost-orientation of the tariffs has not yet been achieved. Cyprus must complete its transposition of the acquis, achieve cost-orientation of prices and put in place local loop unbundling. Attention must be given to full liberalisation of the telecommunications markets.

As regards the regulatory framework, the Telecommunications and Postal Services Regulation Act of 2002 was adopted in March 2002, and the Radio Communications Act in July 2002. However, as the Telecommunications and Postal Services Act will only come into effect after the adoption of the decrees for its application, the acquis in this area will not be implemented before the beginning of 2003. Concerning the national regulatory authority (NRA), the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Telecommunications and Postal Regulation took office in January 2002. Cyprus has also appointed an advisory committee to advise the Commissioner on issues relating to the overall organisation and functioning of his office. A new regulatory framework for electronic communications was adopted in 2002.

As regards the Internet, Cyprus has revised its national priorities in order to incorporate the specific measures adopted as part of the eEurope 2002 action plan. Much remains to be done in this area, especially as Cyprus has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in Europe.

Regarding postal services, the above-mentioned Telecommunications and Postal Services Regulation Act liberalised licensing and provided for universal service. With the appointment of the Commissioner of Telecommunications and Postal Regulation, a proper regulatory body has been established in this field. In addition, Cyprus has drawn up a five-year plan (2000-2006) for improving the quality of the services and with a view to introducing a management accounting system by the end of 2002. Nevertheless, Cyprus still has to complete the alignment of its legislation, in particular with regard to the licensing regime, accounting systems for universal services, market authorisations, administrative charges and quality of services.

Last updated: 13.01.2004

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