Cyprus eyes €3.5bn in EU funds

Over the next years Cyprus anticipates to have available to it some €3.5 billion in EU funds for development projects, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday. “These are projects which will impact and improve people’s day-to-day lives,” the president said after a meeting with Lefteris Christoforou, member of the European Court of Auditors. They were discussing the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework (MFF) – the EU’s long-term spending plan that sets maximum annual budget limits and policy priorities for periods of typically seven years. The next cycle of the MFF is currently being negotiated at the EU level. According to the president, the Cyprus-related projects proposed for the 2028-2034 MFF are expected to get the nod from the cabinet by September 2027 the latest. For the current cycle – 2021-2027 – the total national allocation secured for Cyprus is approximately €2.7 billion. This consists of €1.5 billion in MFF plus €1.2 billion from the Next Generation EU package. Cyprus’ current fund absorption stands at 18.8 per cent, outperforming the EU average of 14 per cent. As for the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the absorption rate is near 50 per cent, closely tracking the EU average of 56 per cent. For his part, Christoforou said the data underscores the island’s efficient use of EU funds, which are channeled to “society and people”. Regarding the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the president said earlier in a written statement that last week Cyprus received another €119 million. With the disbursement of this latest tranche, the country has to date received €709 million – or 70 per cent of the total €1 billion allocation. The next RRF tranche is expected to be disbursed in December. “Our goal is clear: waste no time and no available EU funds, so that these resources are converted into tangible results for the economy and the people,” Christodoulides said. Cyprus needs to achieve certain milestones and reforms before receiving RRF funds. Some of the projects funded include the blood centre, upgrades to hospital infrastructures, photovoltaics and thermal insulation installations at 400 schools, the installation of ‘smart’ water meters, and the CY Alert early warning system. The RRF is a temporary European Union financial instrument totaling over €500 billion designed to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.