Cyprus ranks top of the EU in terms of the absorption rate of funds among the bloc’s 27 members, the Cypriot member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said on Tuesday.
Lefteris Christoforou made the comments after a meeting in Nicosia with President Nikos Christodoulides, to whom he handed over the ECA’s annual report.
“Cyprus boasts the top spot in absorbing European funds relating to social cohesion funds, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Fund for Youth Employment, where Cyprus absorbed €745 million from the previous fiscal framework.
“But also in the new fiscal framework, again Cyprus is 35 per cent ahead of the EU average.”
Asked when the next tranche from the Recovery and Resilience Facility might be expected, Christoforou said that so far Cyprus has received €263 million, or 21 per cent of the total amount to be disbursed.
Already the second, third and fourth tranches – amounting to €230 million – have been disbursed, while the fifth tranche should come by the end of the year.
For his part, the president conveyed his thanks to all the state services for their part in effectively absorbing EU funds.
“Not a single cent will be lost from the assistance given by the EU,” Christodoulides said in brief remarks to the press.
“Essentially this is financial assistance to help us change our country, so that we can keep up with the times, so that Cypriot citizens may benefit, and so that our country’s competitiveness can be boosted.”
At this time inside the EU, said the president, a key topic of discussion is on how to enhance the bloc’s competitiveness relative to the United States and China.
To that end, the European Commission is currently looking at creating “new financial instruments”.
The ECA is the supreme audit institution of the European Union. It comprises one member from each EU member state supported by approximately 800 civil servants.
Despite its name, the ECA has no jurisdictional functions. It is rather a professional external investigatory audit agency. The primary role of the ECA is to externally check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly and that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management
