The European Commission has disbursed the second payment of €115 million to Cyprus under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), after the country fulfilled 37 milestones and targets agreed through the country’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The initial request was submitted by Cyprus on December 15, 2023, for a payment of €152 million (net of pre-financing) under the RRF, covering 38 milestones. However, in a preliminary assessment on September 16, 2024, the Commission found that one milestone related to taxation had not been satisfactorily fulfilled.

The Commission acknowledged the steps already taken by Cyprus to fulfil this milestone, though important work remains to be done, according to a press release.

As for all member states, payments under the RRF, part of NextGenerationEU, are performance-based and depend on the implementation by Cyprus of the investments and reforms described in its Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The ‘payment suspension’ procedure which has been followed in this case is foreseen by the RRF regulation to give member states additional time to fulfil outstanding milestones as explained in the communication published on February 21, 2023, which applies to all member states.

In an opinion, the Economic and Financial Committee of the EU, a technical committee set up to promote policy coordination among the member states, paved the way for the Commission to adopt a decision on the disbursement of the funds linked to the 37 milestones that have been assessed as satisfactorily fulfilled.

The funds disbursed cover reforms and investments in the areas of public health, education, energy efficiency and renewable energy, protection against forest fires and floods, water management, agriculture, research and innovation, financial support to enterprises, public administration, anti-corruption and taxation.

Other reforms put forward aim to improve the legal and institutional framework for fighting corruption and to facilitate strategic investments.

Cyprus’ overall Recovery and Resilience Plan will be financed by €1.2 billion, of which €1.02 billion in grants and €200 million in loans.