Commission gives positive preliminary assessment for 3rd payment for Cyprus

The European Commission has issued a positive preliminary assessment of Cyprus's third payment request through the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

According to the assessment, Cyprus has fulfilled the milestones and targets for nine reforms and seven investments, which correspond to €76.9 million from the Resilience and Recovery Mechanism, in the context of NextGenerationEU. This is the third installment under Cyprus' recovery and resilience plan.

Measures related to the payment request include, according to a press release, the facilitation of strategic investments through a new, dedicated government sector, the issuing of operational guidelines and procedures, and the training of relevant personnel. By reducing the administrative burden and making the strategic investment environment more efficient, investments in the country will be stimulated, the Commission notes in its press release.

Measures also include the installation of a Market Management System by the Cyprus Transmission System Operator to open the electricity market to competition.

The approval of the disbursement of funds related to the second set of measures had delayed due to delays in its implementation. The Commission and Cyprus agreed to amend the time frame for these measures in order to facilitate implementation.

The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which is a coordinating body of the EU and includes member states officials, representatives of national central banks, as well as representatives of the ECB and the Commission. The EFC has four weeks to deliver its opinion.

Following a positive opinion, the Commission will adopt a payment decision enabling a 378.1 million disbursement to Cyprus, according to the press release.

Cyprus submitted its third RRF payment request on 3 July 2024. The request is based on the implementation of 16 milestones and targets, set out in Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan.

A total of €1.2 billion has been allocated to support the implementation of the Cypriot plan under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Once the latest payment is completed, the total funds disbursed to Cyprus under the Recovery and Resilience Facility will reach €454 million, representing over 28% of the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled, according to the Commission.

(Source: CNA)