Coronavirus: Cabinet to approve recovery plan for EU funding

The cabinet will on Friday approve Cyprus’ National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the blueprint containing projects and reforms with a view to absorb almost €1 billion from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund (Next Generation EU).

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the proposals to be submitted by Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides have been finalised following discussions with European Commission technocrats that began last January over Cyprus’ draft proposals.

Following the cabinet approval, Cyprus’ proposals will be formally submitted to the European Commission for approval by the EU Finance Ministers Council as stipulated by the RFF regulation.

The same sources told CNA that following the plan’s approval, Cyprus will receive a first disbursement of €120 million which corresponds to 13 per cent of the total amount.

The €750 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility was the EU’s response to stimulate sustainable recovery following the Covid crisis. Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Facility aims to absorb grants amounting to €968 million. In the first phase Cyprus will receive €764 million or 70 per cent of the 2021 and 2022 disbursements, and €204 million by 2023.

Cyprus’ proposals are drafted on five priority pillars: public health and civil protection and lessons from the pandemic; expediting transition to a green economy; boosting the economy’s competitiveness and resilience; towards a digital era; labour market, education and human capital.

Commenting on the matter, Petrides called the national plan “ambitious and realistic” and one that lays the foundations for the “new model of economic growth”.

He was speaking after a meeting with the Economy and Competitiveness Council – a public entity established by a cabinet decision in June 2018.

The national plan, Petrides said, will emphasise “green transition and digital transformation, and it is “inoculated with the guidelines of the Long-Term Strategy for Sustainable Development.”