The rate of absorbency of EU funds by Cyprus was lower than the average for the EU, according to the European Commission`s Strategic Report on the implementation of 2007-2013 Cohesion Policy programmes.
According to the Report, Cyprus could utilise €612.4 million for the period 2007-2013. By January 2013, the Cypriot authorities had absorbed €243.1 million or 39.7% of the total, with the average EU standing at 42.4%.
Regarding the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, by January 2013 Cyprus had absorbed 40% of the €492.6 million, while regarding the European Social Fund, which funds programmes for employment, combating poverty and social exclusion, and promoting vocational training, Cyprus had absorbed 28.4% of the €119.7 million by January 2013.
The member states must absorb the total of the funds for the period 2007-2013 by the end of 2015 otherwise the funds will be lost.
The Commission`s Report notes that, with four more years to go until the programmes finish in 2015, investments under the European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund and European Social Fund have already led to progress and improvement for many citizens.
Across the EU, these include that 1.9 million more people now have broadband access, 2.6 million more people are served by water supply, 5.7 million more by waste water projects, there are 460 km of TEN-T roads and 334 km of TEN-T rail, and 2.4 million people assisted by the European Social Fund found a new job.
Innovation and small business are receiving a huge boost from cohesion policy investments with many more in the pipeline. So far, 53,240 RTD projects and 16,000 business-research projects received investment, and 53,160 start-ups have been supported.
As funds are utilised and projects get off the ground, the report documents a significant increase in the number of people supported in the area of employment from around 10 million annually before 2010 to some 15 million on an annual basis since then, and a significant acceleration of results since 2010 in the area of support for SMEs, with almost 400,000 jobs created (half of these in 2010/11) including 15,600 research jobs and 167,000 jobs in SMEs.
Through its three Funds – the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and the Cohesion Fund – EU cohesion policy is investing €347 billion in 2007-2013 in the 27 member states. This represents 35% of the total EU budget for the same period (€975 billion).
The Report also underlines the relevance of the profound reforms currently being negotiated between the European Parliament and EU governments for cohesion policy from 2014-2020, including a more strategic concentration of resources on key priorities and more focus on results and evaluation.
