PRESS RELEASE : Sovereign Base Areas Specialised Committee meeting [December 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 12 December 2023.
The fifth meeting of the Specialised Committee, co-chaired by the European Commission and the UK government, discussed issues relating to the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.
Joint statement by UK government and European Commission:
The fifth meeting of the Specialised Committee on issues related to the implementation of the Protocol relating to the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus was held on 12 December 2023, co-chaired by officials from the European Commission and the UK Government.
The Committee was established by the Withdrawal Agreement to facilitate the implementation and application of the Protocol.
The EU and the UK reviewed the operational phase of the implementation of the Protocol since its last meeting in July 2022.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the smooth implementation of the Protocol and confirmed the need to finalise technical discussions with the objective of reaching a common understanding on the correct implementation of the Protocol in the area of fisheries (Article 6 of the Protocol) and taxation (Article 3 of the Protocol).
The co-chairs confirmed that the technical discussions should include legal experts from both sides and be completed promptly. The Specialised Committee will revert to this issue immediately afterwards.
