A Critical Assessment of the Cyprus Protocol Annexed to the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement The Consensual Continuation of a Metacolonial Realm
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Published
Feb 1, 2019
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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’.
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Keywords
postcolonial anomaly, metcolonial realm, incomplete decolonization, servitude regime, Brexit, Withdrawal Agreement, UK 'bases areas' in Cyprus, Protocol 3, 'SBAs' Protocol, Cyprus, UK, EU
References
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Crawford, J. (2006), The Creation of States in International Law, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crawford, N. (2002) Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Craven, M. (2007) The Decolonization of International Law: State Succession and the Law of Treaties, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Esgain, A, J. (1965) ‘Military Servitudes and the New Nations’, in W. V O’Brien (ed), New Nations in International Law and Diplomacy, Stevens & Sons: 42-97.
European Commission (2018) ‘Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, as agreed at negotiators’ level on 14 November 2018’. Available at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/draft_withdrawal_ agreement_0.pdf, accessed November 2018.
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Grenville, J. A. S. (1974) The Major International Treaties. A History and Guide with Texts, London: Methuen.
Ioannides, N. (2018) ‘The ICJ Advisory Opinion concerning the Chagos Archipelago and the Possible Consequences on the Legal Regime of the British Bases in Cyprus’, manuscript under review for publication.
Kentas, G. (2013) Security in the Context of a Cyprus Settlement [in Greek]. Athens: A.A. Livanis..
Kentas, G. (2014) ‘The peculiar concept of “balance” between Turkey and Greece in Cyprus’, in M. Kontos, H. Alexandrou, N. Panayiotides and S.-C. Theodoulou (eds.) Great Power Politics in Cyprus: Foreign Interventions and Domestic Perceptions. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Kentas, G. (2017) ‘Local concerns over Brexit: the peculiar case of the British military bases in Cyprus’ unpublished note, available upon request.
Ker-Lindsay, J. (2007) ‘Great Powers, Counter Secession, and Non-Recognition: Britain and the 1983 Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”’, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Vol. 28, No. 3: 431-453.
Ker-Lindsay, J., (2017) ‘Great Powers, Counter Secession, and Non-Recognition: Britain and the 1983 Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”’, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Vol. 28, No. 3 (2017): 431-453, DOI: 10.1080/09592296.2017.1347445
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Kyriakides K. A. (2006) ‘The Sovereign Base Areas and British Defence Policy Since 1960’, in H. Faustmann and N. Peristianis (eds), Britain in Cyprus: Colonialism and Post-Colonialism 1878-2006, Mannheim: Bibliopolis: 511-534.
Kyriakides, K. A. (1996), British Cold War strategy and the struggle to maintain military bases in Cyprus, 1951-60, University of Cambridge, Doctoral thesis.
Lillie, S. (2018, November 11) ‘Brexit – ask the High Commissioner’ Cyprus Mail. Available at https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/11/11/brexit-ask-the-high-commissioner/, accessed November 2018.
Magone, J. M. (2011) Contemporary European Politics, Oxon: Routledge.
Official Journal of the European Union (2003a) ‘Protocol No 3 on the sovereign base areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Cyprus’, L 236, Volume 46, 23 September 2003: 940-943.
Official Journal of the European Union, (2003b), ‘Protocol No 10 on Cyprus,’ L 236, Volume 46, 23 September 2003: 955.
O’Malley, B. and Craig, I. (1999), The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion. London: I.B. Tauris.
Oppehheim, L. (1920), International Law: A Treatise, Cambridge: Whewell House.
Palley, C. (2005) An International Relations Debacle, Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Pellet, A. (2012) ‘The British Sovereign Areas’. Cyprus Yearbook of International Law: 57-72. Phileleftheros (2018, November 17) ‘Efcharisties YPEX gia to Ptotocollo Vaseon’,
Phileleftheros. Available at http://www.philenews.com/eidiseis/politiki/article/612492/efcharistiesypex-ga-protokollo-baseon, accessed November 2018.
Republic of Cyprus (2018), ‘Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Request for Advisory Opinion)’ Written Statements for the ICJ.
Republic of Cyprus (2018), ‘Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Request for Advisory Opinion)’, Oral statement for the ICJ.
Premnath, G. (2003) ‘The Weak Sovereignty of the Postcolonial NationState’ in A. Kumar, J. Berger and B. Robbins (eds) World Bank Literature, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press: 253–264.
Shaelou, L. (2011) ‘The Principle of Territorial Exclusion in the EU: SBAs in Cyprus-A Special Case of Sui Generis Territories in the EU’, in D. Kochenov (ed), EU Law of the Overseas: Outermost Regions, Associated Overseas Countries and Territories, Territories Sui Generis (Wolters Kluwer 2011): 153-175.
Simmons, M. (2015) The British and Cyprus: An Outpost of Empire to Sovereign Bases, 1878-1974 Gloucestershire: The History Press.
Stockwatch (2018) ‘Anastasiades welcomes agreement in principle on Brexit’. Available at https://www.stockwatch.com.cy/en/article/politika/anastasiades-welcomes-agreementprinciple-brexit, accessed November 2018.
Treaty No. 5476. United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland, Greece And Turkey And Cyprus, 12 December 1960, Available at https://www.mfa.gr/images/docs/ kypriako/treaty_of_establishment.pdf, accessed November 2018.
Tzionis, T. (2018) ‘The Sea and the British Bases: Two overlooked aspects of the Cyprus Problem’[in Greek]. Apopseis.com. Available at https://www.apopseis.com/thalassa-kevretanikes-vasis-dyo-xechasmenes-ptyches-tou-kypriakou/, accessed November 2018.
Verrier, A., (1964) ‘Cyprus: Britain Security Role’, The World Today (1964): 131-137.
Xanthoulis, P. (2018, November 18) ‘Skliros Simvivasmos Lefkosias-Londinou gia tis Vaseis’ Phileleftheros.
Yiolitis, E. (2017) ‘Back to base: what does Brexit mean for UK sovereign bases in Cyprus?’ Lexology. Available at https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=aa35f06c-c8f6402d-8d5c-40f2fdf96525, accessed November 2018.
Yiolitis, E. (2017) ‘Brexit kai Vretanikes Vaseis’ [in Greek]. Sigmalive. Available at http://www. sigmalive.com/news/opinions_sigmalive/460317/brexit-kai-vretanikes-vaseis, accessed November 2018.
Young, R. (2001) Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell.
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“A Critical Assessment of the Cyprus Protocol Annexed to the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement: The Consensual Continuation of a Metacolonial Realm”. 2019. Cyprus Review 30 (1): 317-48. https://cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/555.