€76.9 million payment to Cyprus moves forward under NextGenerationEU with Commission's positive preliminary assessment

The Commission issued a positive preliminary assessment of Cyprus's third payment request for €76.9 million under NextGenerationEU, the centrepiece of Europe's recovery efforts to build a greener, more digital, and competitive Union. 

The Commission's preliminary assessment finds that Cyprus has fulfilled the milestones and targets required for this payment, financed under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument of NextGenerationEU. The amount of €76.9 million represents the third instalment under Cyprus' recovery and resilience plan. 

Cyprus' third payment request follows the implementation of nine reforms and seven investments in Cyprus, entailing tangible benefits for citizens and businesses in the fields of digitalisation, health, environment, energy, research, and connectivity.  

Flagship measures in the payment request include: 

• Facilitation of Strategic investments: A new, dedicated government sect or was set up, operational guidelines and procedures were issued, and relevant personnel was trained. By reducing the administrative burden and making the strategic investment environment more efficient, investments in the country will be stimulated. 
• Installation of a Market Management System by the Cyprus Transmission System Operator to open the electricity market to competition. 

Next steps 

The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. Following a positive opinion, the Commission will adopt a payment decision enabling the €378.1 million disbursement to Cyprus. 

Background 

Cyprus submitted its third RRF payment request on 3 July 2024. 

The request is based on the implementation of 16 milestones and targets, set out in Cyprus recovery and resilience plan. 

The plan includes a wide range of investments and reforms aimed at making the Cypriot economy and society more sustainable, resilient and prepared for the green and digital transitions. A total of €1.2 billion has been allocated to support its implementation under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.  

Once this payment is completed, the total funds disbursed to Cyprus under the Recovery and Resilience Facility will reach €454 million, representing over 28% of the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled. 

For more information 

• You can explore an interactive map of RRF-financed reforms and investments to see how they are being deployed locally. 
• Open data on the RRF can be accessed on the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, which tracks its implementation and progress.  
• The text of the Commission's preliminary assessment offers details on the milestones and targets preliminarily assessed as satisfactorily fulfilled. 
• The Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation sets out the framework and objectives of the RRF.