The General Affairs Council of the EU met on Thursday in Luxembourg to discuss issues related to the EU’s Cohesion Policy. Cyprus was represented by the permanent secretary for Growth, Theodosis Tsiolas, on behalf of the Minister of Finance.
According to a statement, the Council members exchanged views on the European Commission’s report on Cohesion Policy and the relevant European Council Conclusions.
The discussion focused on the challenges facing the EU’s development investment sector, but also on ways in which decision making and planning can be improved.
Participants also exchanged views on the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, especially in relation to the implementation of development investments through the European Cohesion Policy Funds.
As noted in the press release, in his intervention Tsiolas drew attention to the fact that the Commission report underlines that member states have different starting points, capacities and needs, and pointed to the need to orient the Cohesion Policy to the real needs of the regions and Member States, but also to provide flexibility in the design and implementation of programmes and reduce the administrative burden.
Also, according to the press release, Tsiolas stressed the importance of adapting the legislative framework of the European Cohesion Policy Funds to current challenges and called on the European Commission to speed up the examination and adoption of programmes for the period 2021-2027, including the national Cohesion Policy development programme “THALIA 2021-2027”, worth 1.8 billion euro.
Tsiolas also noted that the timely adoption of the Programmes will allow Member States to respond immediately to the current challenges, including to supply chain issues, inflationary pressures and increased migration flows, which create additional needs for funding and timely implementation of targeted development projects.
Finally, during an informal working lunch on the promotion of specific technical proposals for the contribution of the European Cohesion Policy Funds in addressing the new socio-economic realities, Tsiolas expressed Cyprus’ solidarity with the Ukrainian people and support for the proposals to provide further flexibility in the implementation of the Cohesion Policy.
Source: Cyprus News Agency