EU nations agree to ease trade across divided Cyprus

(LUXEMBOURG) - European foreign ministers on Monday approved measures to ease trade across Cyprus, allowing more goods to cross the "green line" from the Turkish recognised statelet in the north of the island.

The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, agreed a raft of measures to boost trade and economic integration which the European Commission had proposed in April.

The new measures lift duties on agricultural products "thus avoiding cumbersome procedures" the ministers said in a joint text.

Other moves will encourage the provision of services by companies in the Greek-Cypriot north and facilitate participation in trade fairs.

Also the total value of goods people are allowed to carry across the line is almost doubled from 135 euros to 260 euros "so as to encourage economic interaction on the island".

The rule amendments "are also expected to contribute to the favourable climate on the island, facilitate crossings of persons across the Line, and support the ongoing process towards reaching a comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem," the EU foreign ministers said.

The measures were adopted unanimously, meaning EU member Cyprus, represented by the largely Greek south, gave its approval.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey seized its northern third.

That invasion was a response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

A UN plan to reunite the island failed in 2004 when the Greek Cypriots voted against it in a referendum, although the Turkish Cypriots voted overwhelmingly in favour.

But the February election of Communist President Demetris Christofias sparked a renewed drive for peace after several years of stalemate under his predecessor Tassos Papadopoulos.

General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC)