Written by Eszter Balázs.
INTRODUCTION
The country takes over from Denmark and will hand the baton on to Ireland. Cyprus is the last member of the presidency trio with Poland and Denmark.
State and government
The Republic of Cyprus is a presidential democracy. The president is the head of state and the head of government; there is no prime minister. This full presidential system is unique among the EU Member States.
According to the Constitution, executive power is exercised jointly by a Greek Cypriot President and a Turkish Cypriot Vice-President of the Republic, through a Council of Ministers appointed by them (seven and three ministers, respectively).
In 1963, the Turkish Cypriot Vice-President and the three Turkish Cypriot ministers withdrew from government, and since then the government has been functioning by necessity only with Greek Cypriots in all ministries, the number of which was subsequently raised to 11. Moreover, the President of the Republic, according to the provisions of the relevant national legislation, has appointed five Deputy Ministers. The post of Vice-President remains vacant.
The post of Deputy Minister for European Affairs has been created especially for the Presidency. It will cease after Cyprus’s term concludes.
The President convenes and sets the agenda of the Council of Ministers. In foreign affairs, defence and security, the President has veto powers over both the legislative branch and the Council of Ministers.
The current President of the Republic is Nikos Christodoulides, in office since 1 March 2023, following presidential elections in February 2023. His term of office, as is also that of the Council of Ministers, is five years, with the next presidential elections scheduled for February 2028. President Christodoulides is independent, supported by the nationalist-centrist Democratic Party (DIKO – S&D), the social-democratic Movement for Social Democracy – Citizes’ Alliance (EDEK – S&D), and the centrist Democratic Alignment (DIPA – Renew).
Read the complete briefing on ‘Priority dossiers under the Cyprus EU Council Presidency‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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