ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the political and institutional setting in Cyprus and investigates how the unresolved national problem has allowed for particular characteristics to develop that have influenced the structure of the civil service and the framework within which successive Governments have functioned. Despite being a European Union (EU) member for more than a decade, Cyprus has not yet established an effective and permanent coordination mechanism for European affairs, rendering the country an outlier within the EU. The Republic of Cyprus is a relatively new regime, dating back to 1960, when it declared its independence after more than seventy years of British rule, the last imperial force of many that had ruled the island. The international financial crisis revealed the precarious position of the disproportionately large banking sector in Cyprus and other structural weaknesses in the economy. The success of the Cyprus Presidency was even acknowledged at the European level through public statements by EU officials.
