Regional policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Employment and social affairs Commissioner VladimÃr Å pidla congratulated the Cypriot authorities for reaching agreement with the European Commission on the national plan and priorities for Cohesion policy 2007-2013.
In their National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) the Cypriot authorities describe how they are going to invest EU funding of EUR 612 million that they will receive over seven years to deliver growth and jobs to their regions. The adoption procedure has now been completed and the European Commission issued its decision on elements of the Cypriot plan, including priorities, indicative annual allocations, and list of operational programmes.
Regional policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Employment and social affairs Commissioner VladimÃr Å pidla expressed their satisfaction at the policy mix and priorities chosen by Cyprus for Cohesion policy implementation in 2007-2013.
“I am very happy that the Cyprus’ NSRF includes a significant commitment to the Lisbon strategy for jobs and growth. 58.9% of the investment has been “earmarked” for Lisbon related expenditure. This is the proof of Cyprus’ commitment to the Lisbon Strategy. I am confident that we can make an important contribution to improving the competitiveness of Cypriot regions through this new generation of cohesion programmes”, said Danuta Hübner.
Commissioner Å pidla added:”The Cyprus strategy contains a strong commitment to promoting the quality and intensity of investments in human resources. This shows once again that more and better jobs lie at the heart of the European reform agenda. With the priorities chosen by Cyprus, workers will be able to better adapt to changing circumstances. The strategy will also boost employment and promote social inclusion.”
The NSRF, negotiated over the past few months, sets out in broad terms how
The NSRF presents a good policy mix, which puts the accent on sectors which are important to key policies of the
Cyprus intends to translate the broad priorities contained in the NSRF into two operational programmes. The first – Sustainable Development and Competitiveness – will receive funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion fund, the second entitled Employment, Human Capital and Social Cohesion will receive funding from the European Social Fund.
Now that negotiations have been successfully concluded on the wider framework document, the individual programmes and the indicative annual allocation from each fund will be adopted by the Commission soon. Cyprus has already begun negotiations on the content of its operational programmes.
Timely adoption of the NSRF can only work in Cyprus’ favour as the sooner its operational programmes are adopted, the sooner implementation can begin on the ground.
In drawing up their NSRFs, all Member States must take account of the Community guidelines for 2007-2013 which place particular emphasis on innovation, research and technological development, the information society, environmental protection, renewable energy sources and creating more and better jobs. The NSRF must also tie-in closely with Member States’ national reform programmes which set out the measures they will implement to deliver the Lisbon jobs’ and growth strategy.
Cyprus has been allocated approximately EUR 640 million, of which EUR 213 million under the Cohesion Fund , EUR 399 million under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective (phasing in), and EUR 28 million under the European Territorial Cooperation objective. Together with
The funds will be invested in five thematic priorities:
1. Strengthening of the productive base of the economy and support to enterprises
2. Knowledge Society and Promotion of RTD and Innovation
3. Human Resources, Employment and Social Cohesion
4. Environment, Transport and Energy Infrastructures
5. Development of Sustainable Communities.
