Cyprus Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides has expressed the hope that the constructive dialogue which starts today on the future of the EU and which will be completed later this year, will lead to a stronger EU which better meets citizens` expectations.

Speaking on the sidelines of the European Council, in Brussels, the Spokesman said “this is possibly one of the most important and most historic EU Councils, in the sense that it will start a dialogue on the future of Europe, a debate which will continue in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome and will be completed in the end of 2017.”

A discussion, he noted, “that starts in response to the decision of the British to leave the EU, a debate that should lead to results which should, above all, meet the expectations of Europeans, meet what the Europeans expect from the EU, taking into account at the same time international developments, the principles and values on which the EU is based, has been founded and is functioning and if you want to some degree threatened today, should be the basic pillar which will determine the EU`s future. So in this context we expect that a dialog will start today, a dialog that will lead in end of 2017 to a stronger European Union”.

Called to comment on the implications of some of the various proposals, the Spokesman welcomed the work that has been done in terms of the Commission President.

“As you know there are many different approaches from several Member States. We evaluate the positions of all Member States, and we have our own approaches. One focus is on the one hand the need to meet the expectations of Europeans and the second is to ensure that EU principles and values, now somewhat threatened, are fully safeguarded and become the pillar to lead to a much better Europe, much more efficient and above a Europe which meets the expectations of Europeans,” Christodoulides said.