Recovery and Resilience Facility: Cyprus submits official recovery and resilience plan

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This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The Commission has received an official recovery and resilience plan from Cyprus. This plan sets out the reforms and public investment projects that Cyprus plans to implement with the support of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

The RRF is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, the EU’s plan for emerging stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will provide up to €672.5 billion to support investments and reforms (in 2018 prices). This breaks down into grants worth a total of €312.5 billion and €360 billion in loans. The RRF will play a crucial role in helping Europe emerge stronger from the crisis, and securing the green and digital transitions.

The presentation of this plan follows an intensive dialogue between the Commission and the Cypriot authorities over the past number of months.

Cyprus’s recovery and resilience plan 

Cyprus has requested €1 billion in grants and €227 million in loans under the RRF.

The Cypriot plan is structured around the five policy areas: public health and civil protection; the green transition; economic resilience and competitiveness; the digital transition; and the labour market, education and human capital. The plan includes measures to modernise the healthcare sector, increase the energy efficiency of buildings, promote sustainable transport and the upgrading of digital infrastructure, and foster upskilling and reskilling opportunities. Projects in the plan cover the entire lifetime of the RRF until 2026. The plan proposes projects in all seven European flagship areas.

Next steps

The Commission will assess the plan within the next two months based on the eleven criteria set out in the Regulation and translate their contents into legally binding acts. This assessment will notably include a review of whether the plan contributes to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations issued in the context of the European Semester. The Commission will also assess whether the plan dedicates at least 37% of expenditure to investments and reforms that support climate objectives, and 20% to the digital transition.          

The Council will have, as a rule, four weeks to adopt the Commission proposal for a Council Implementing Decision.

The Council’s approval of the plans would pave the way for the disbursement of a 13% pre-financing to Cyprus. This is subject to the entry into force of the Own Resources Decision, which must first be approved by all Member States.

The Commission has now received a total of 18 recovery and resilience plans, from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Slovakia. It will continue to engage intensively with the remaining Member States to help them deliver high quality plans.