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Government Spokesman Constantinos Letibiotis held a media briefing at the Presidential Palace today.
In his opening statement, the Spokesman said: "The President of the Republic will travel to Brussels tomorrow, Wednesday 13 December, for the proceedings of the European Council. The European Council will be preceded on 13 December by the European Union-Western Balkans Summit. The meeting is part of the reaffirmation of the European Union's commitment to the Western Balkans and their European course.
On Thursday 14 December, the President of the Republic will participate in the customary preparatory meeting of the European People's Party, which precedes the European Council.
The European Council will be largely concerned with the important issue of the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework, in which the key issue of migration has been included as a key issue. The Republic of Cyprus is expected to support the European Commission's recommendations, weighing as a key element the preservation of the meritocratic enlargement process and the equal treatment of partners on the basis of the merit and relative conditionality governing the process.
The situation in Ukraine following Russia's illegal invasion, as well as developments in the Middle East, will occupy the European Council's work. The Republic of Cyprus will underline the need for substantial EU involvement in reviving the political process in the Middle East, as well as in supporting the Neighbourhood. Finally, President Christodoulides will refer to the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus to create a safe sea corridor for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza.
We welcome the agreement reached between the Ministry of Finance and the trade unions on the salary advancement of employees in the combined A2, A5 and A7 grades. The agreement provides that any employee who moves through the combined A2, A5 and A7(ii) scales will move up the pay scale within the combined scales when his or her salary in the lower scale corresponds to the starting step of the next scale.
Specifically, the following shall apply to the advancement to step A7(ii) of those serving on the effective date of the legislation implementing this Agreement:
An employee holding a permanent position on the effective date of this Agreement shall be eligible for advancement to step A7(ii) upon completion of 18 years of service in the same position in combined steps A2, A5 and A7(ii), taking into account any prior continuous employment as a Permanent Employee to perform duties of the position to which he or she was appointed in combined steps A2, A5 and A7(ii).
The Ministry of Finance and the trade unions also agreed to a review and rationalisation of the entire state payroll on the basis of an independent study to be conducted by independent consultants/experts with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the public and wider public sector payroll. In this context, the issue of employees serving in grades A2, A5 and A7(ii) who have prior service in grades A1, A2 and A5(ii) will also be discussed.
The approval by the House of Representatives of the package of measures to tackle NPLs and protect vulnerable borrowers is a major positive development for the Cyprus economy and for borrowers. For the first time in years, an issue that on the one hand threatened the stability of the financial sector and on the other hand was troubling many households, is being addressed in a holistic approach with the comprehensive solution of the package promoted by the Government.
After months of intensive efforts by the Government, the legislative framework has been achieved, which will constitute a net of effective protection for vulnerable and prudent borrowers, through the responsible attitude and cooperation of the country's political forces. Following the adoption of the bill on the extension of the competences of the Single Agency for the Extrajudicial Resolution of Financial Disputes, the Council of Ministers will immediately proceed with the appointment of the Board of Directors of the Agency, which will propose a person for the position of Financial Ombudsman in accordance with the procedure provided for.
The Government's determination to resolve issues that have been chronic and pending for years is once again demonstrated in practice. The President himself, during his speech in June to mark the 100 days of his administration, had set among the priority pillars 3 short-term priorities: first, was the legislative regulation of the divestment framework, and within 10 months this Government has achieved it. I recall that, with exactly the same determination, the housing issue has been addressed, with the integrated State Housing Policy already announced, while specific measures and actions have already been announced and implemented on the issue of sanctions, which were also set as priority pillars by the President of the Republic. The implementation of these important decisions comes in addition to the substantial addressing of chronic issues that the Government has achieved in the first 10 months, such as, among others, the issue of student evaluations, the effective management of migration, the KTIZO programme and others.
In the framework of the Republic of Cyprus' initiative to establish a maritime corridor for the provision of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to the civilian population of Gaza, an in-service team of Israeli technocrats is arriving in Cyprus today. The visit of the technical team from Israel is part of the technical consultations for the implementation of the "Amalthea" initiative, following the two visits made by a technical team from Cyprus to Israel in the previous period.
As the Republic of Cyprus we have drawn up a very specific plan for the implementation of the initiative, which aims to address the humanitarian crisis as it is unfolding in Gaza and which will significantly enhance the necessary provision of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. Already - as is well known - several States have expressed their intention to provide logistical support to the implementation of the initiative, with the first shipment of humanitarian aid already stored in a specially designed area in Larnaca, ready to be dispatched as soon as conditions allow for the launch of the initiative.
All 16 milestones of Phase 2 and 22 milestones of Phase 3 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan have been successfully completed. The Republic of Cyprus will send in the coming days the two payment requests totalling €152.3 million - €63.3 million for the 2nd tranche and €89 million for the 3rd tranche. In addition, the EUR 21 million RepowerEU advance payment is expected to be received at the end of the year. Only 8 out of 27 Member States have already submitted the 3rd payment request, while 12 have submitted the 2nd request. The implementation of the Recovery Plan has been significantly accelerated through close cooperation between the executive and the legislature.
The Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan is a very important milestone for the modernisation of our country and to date, very important reforms have already been implemented.
The aim of the Republic of Cyprus remains not only to ensure that not a single euro is lost from the Plan in terms of fundraising, but perhaps much more so that these very important reforms aimed at modernising our country, at making Cyprus an even more modern, more digital European state, can be implemented.
The period for expressions of interest for the Board of Directors of the Public Enterprise of Natural Gas (PNG) through the Advisory Council ended yesterday at 2 p.m. and 36 expressions of interest have been submitted, which will be evaluated by the Advisory Council before making recommendations.
The Cooperation Programme in the field of Education for the years 2023 - 2027 between Cyprus and Greece was signed yesterday by the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth of the Republic of Cyprus and the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports of the Hellenic Republic, laying even stronger foundations for the cooperation between Cyprus and Greece in education.
The signing of the Programme lays even stronger foundations and ensures, on the one hand, the strengthening of cooperation between the two Ministries on issues of mutual interest at the levels of Primary, Secondary and Higher Education and, on the other hand, expands the areas of cooperation, while being adapted to the requirements of modern reality and new digital data.
In the context of Mr. Pierrakakis's visit, due to his previous capacity as Minister of Digital Policy, the drawing of know-how for the implementation of the very successful example of gov.gr was also discussed. Technical meetings are currently taking place at the Deputy Ministry of Innovation and Digital Policy to implement a similar service in Cyprus as well. The Greek Government has made great progress in recent years in terms of digital transition and the drawing of know-how and good practices was also discussed during the recent Cyprus-Greece Intergovernmental Summit, which took place in November in Athens".
(RM/EATH/Th)
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