Cyprus’s EU Membership, Twenty Years On: A Statement of Motives and an Assessment of Benefits

Abstract

Reflecting on twenty years of Cyprus’s EU membership, this paper aims to provide an account of the rationale for its accession to the EU and the euro area, and an assessment of their benefits. The argument made in the paper is that although it was security rather than economic considerations that accounted for Cyprus’s EU accession, the latter also came with certain financial benefits. Moreover, while Cyprus’s accession to the single currency was motivated by its desire to be part of the hard core of the European unification project, its euro area participation was to stand Cyprus in good stead in its hour of need, during the Cypriot sovereign debt crisis of 2012–2013. The paper also explores whether the unprecedented accession of a divided country to the EU may provide a source of inspiration for future enlargements, where sui generis circumstances prevail.