A/HRC/19/22 for parliamentary elections was disproportionate or irreconcilable with the underlying purposes of article 3 of Protocol No. 1 concerning free elections. Furthermore, the Court did not find evidence that the applicants of Turkish Cypriot origin living in the northern part of the island had been discriminated against. In this context, the Court argued that there was objective and reasonable justification as well as a legitimate basis for distinguishing, for electoral purposes, between those Turkish Cypriots who chose to remain under the dayto-day administration of the Turkish Cypriot authorities in the north and those who lived within the area controlled by the Government. 27 20. The “direct trade regulation” proposed by the European Commission is still pending adoption.28 While the European Union Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community, which seeks to encourage economic development in the northern part of the island, has continued, its implementation faces challenges, inter alia, in relation to cooperation and confidence-building between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities, at both the people-to-people level and for doing business. The Aid Programme also comprises a number of projects aimed at addressing the gap and promoting reconciliation and confidence-building.29 C. Freedom of movement 21. According to article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State, as well as the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. 30 22. In Cyprus, however, crossings between the north and the south of the island are still possible only through official crossing points, a situation that limits freedom of movement. During the period from 21 November 2010 to 22 October 2011, UNFICYP recorded more than 1.5 million official crossings through the buffer zone. 31 23. The “Green Line” Regulation (EC) No. 866/2004 continues to define the terms under which provisions of European Union law apply to the movement of persons, goods and services across the line between the areas of Cyprus in which the Government does not exercise effective control and the areas in which it does. In the seventh report on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) 866/2004, the European Commission noted that the Green Line Regulation provided a stable legal framework for the free movement of Cypriots, other European Union citizens and third-country nationals who cross the Green Line at authorized crossing points.32 While there was a slight fall in the number of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots crossing the line in 2010, the number of non-Cypriot European Union citizens and third-country nationals crossing the line decreased by 56 per 27 28 29 30 31 32 European Court of Human Rights, Erel and Damdelen v. Cyprus Decision (39973/07), 14 December 2010, p. 12. Proposal for a Council regulation on special conditions for trade with those areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control (COM(2004)0466 final – ACC(2004)0148). On 18 October 2010, the Legal Committee of the European Parliament shared the opinion of the Parliament’s legal service that European Union trade with the northern part of the island should be governed directly by the European Union single market and customs union rules, and would therefore need to be adopted by unanimity in the Council of Ministers. Since the Legal Committee’s decision of 18 October 2010, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament has not put the proposal back on the Parliament’s agenda. Information received from the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community, Directorate-General for Enlargement, European Commission. See also article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. S/2011/332, para. 26; S/2011/746, para. 28. Report from the Commission to the Council (COM(2011) 284 final, pp. 1-2), 30 May 2011. 9