Stella Kyriakidou, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, described it as a "historic" day for Cyprus and the European Commission, the completion of the first payment request of the Republic of Cyprus to the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) and the disbursement on Friday of €85 million, noting that every euro allocated has a multiplier effect on the economy and prosperity.
Addressing the 1st annual Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan event in Nicosia, Kyriakidou said the disbursement comes as a continuation of a "comprehensive and ambitious" recovery and resilience plan. "Our assessment is that the plan, which includes significant reforms and substantial investment, will significantly expand the productive base of the Cypriot economy. It will create new and quality jobs with high added value. It will make it firmly sustainable but also more resilient to crises with multiple economic impacts, such as the coronavirus pandemic", the Commissioner added.
Kyriakidou conveyed the European Commission's congratulations especially to the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the Ministers and the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) for the achievement of the first 14 milestones of the Plan which, she said, are linked to the implementation of major reforms and investments.
He noted that reforms such as the new energy efficiency measures and the Action Plan to promote the country's circular economy have become "more necessary than ever before", and constitute "a major contribution to our common goal of accelerating the green transition and transformation of our country and the EU as a whole".
The hard efforts of all, he added, made the disbursement of €85 million under the MFA a reality, following the first €157 million that the country received as pre-financing in September 2021. "This first important step reflects both the quality of the Cypriot plan and the joint commitment of Cyprus and the Commission to make the Recovery and Resilience Fund a European success story," Kyriakidou noted.
She said that the RoC is allocated €1.2 billion from the MFA for the period 2021-2026.
"Every euro allocated has a multiplier effect on the economy and prosperity and is strengthened by the fact that this effort is pan-European, coordinated, sustainable, green and digital," she added.
Ms. Kyriakidou also said, among other things, that as the EU food safety commissioner, she is "particularly pleased" that today's national package includes investments to improve the authentication of traditional Cypriot products. In particular, she said, they support the development of a mechanism to validate three categories of traditional products particularly affected by adulteration and fraud.
She also said that now the European Commission, she said, wants to build a safer and healthier EU so that member states are better prepared for any future crisis.
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