MEP Michalis Hadjipantela (PPE) has asked the European Commission to take enforcement action against illegal quarrying in the occupied areas of Cyprus, arguing that the activities violate EU environmental and safety rules and create unfair competition for compliant operators in the Republic-controlled areas. The quarrying in the Pentadaktylos mountain range, which the Commission has acknowledged it cannot monitor or enforce, risks intensifying with the opening of new crossing points, potentially flooding the market with non-compliant aggregates.
The parliamentary question, submitted on 7 April 2026, follows the Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy confirmation in August 2025 that neither the Republic of Cyprus nor the Commission can verify, monitor or enforce compliance with environmental and safety standards in the occupied north. Hadjipantela now asks three concrete questions: whether the Commission considers that the legal conditions for permitting aggregates to cross the Green Line are met under Regulation (EC) No 866/2004; what enforcement steps it will take to tackle unfair competition; and whether it will make support to the Turkish Cypriot community conditional on compliance with EU rules.
a legal interpretation of the Green Line regulation, a call for enforcement action, and a proposal to link EU funding to compliance. It reflects a policy orientation favouring stronger EU oversight and conditionality to protect both the environment and the level playing field for businesses. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks; its answer will signal whether it intends to tighten enforcement or maintain the status quo, with implications for Cypriot quarry operators, Turkish Cypriot beneficiaries of EU aid, and environmental protection in the region.