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EU: the view from the street
Andreas Malakounides
The Sunday Mail asked people from a variety of age groups and professions three questions:
* What is the presidency of the Council of the EU?
* What do you think Cyprus will have to do during the six-month rotating presidency?
* How important is it to you that Cyprus is taking over the presidency?
Giorgos Demetriou, 53, shopkeeper
“I know kind of what the presidency is.”
“I know about the committees but I don’t know details”
“I know it’ll be for our own good”
Christos Papapavlou, 31, clothes shop owner
“Of course I know what it is”
“There will be conferences that they will chair but I don’t know exactly”
“As a citizen I don’t know if it will affect me, but I think it will help”
Stamatis Skianis, 20, management student
“It will be procedures of the EU parliament that will take place and the presidency will be the test.
“We chair the meetings during the presidency”
“As a citizen and as an EU citizen it’s important, as the activities of the presidency will affect Cyprus.”
Stalo Chrysostomou, 62, works at a coffeeshop
“There’s a president and he goes in to chair the EU”
It won’t impact me but it’s something good”
Yiannis Papaphilippou, 44, bookshop owner
“They have their council”
“They have conferences and it gives us good will during the time we have the presidency. Naturally it will bring money in too”
“It’s not important to me but it is in terms of the community we live it”
Costas Kokkalis, 51, customs officer at Ledra street check point
“Yes I do know”
“They hold meetings at different levels, at lower levels too and there’s a Cypriot representative who will chair at these levels.”
“It’s very important for me as a citizen, for our country and for me as an employee”
Kabul Rana, 24, travel and tourism student
“I’m new here so I’m not very familiar but I know they’re talking it over”
“I don’t know the policies that are going to happen”
It’s important because I think the problem of student unemployment might be solved”
Michalis Andreou, a 62-year-old lottery ticket seller
“I’ll be damned if I know.”
“I particularly dislike Europe; the financial crisis is an artificial construction of the EU.”
Teenagers Branco, 17, and David, 16,
Were both unable to answer any of the questions
Andreas Malakounides, 71, retired designer,
“The presidency rotates on a five year basis, I think, and European leaders visit the country as well as high ranking officials and discuss problems and how to tackle them.”
“During the presidency Cyprus needs to sort out some defence protocols which haven’t been signed. “And also, other problems are that they can’t get any money.”
“Cyprus should have got money from the EU – are we or are we not a member state? But they discuss this among themselves, they don’t tell us about it.”
Florian Frank, 64, German lawyer
“I don’t know exactly what the presidency is but it is on a six-month basis when Cyprus will preside over the council of chiefs and they meet once in a while but the council cannot decide anything.
“The presidency emphasises that small countries have a say in the union and it’s necessary to have the presidencies so that each country, small and big, can contribute their own ideas.”
Andreas Aloupas, 70, watchmaker
“The only thing I understand is that we’ve lost our livelihood,”
