Brussels, 23/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 23 May, after a meeting with the Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that it would necessarily take time for the Cypriot economy to pick up, and that the situation in the country had shown that delays are costly and the people who suffer the most from the delays are ordinary citizens. He called for speedy and effective mobilisation of the EU funding earmarked for Cyprus in order to help the island deal with the social consequences of the economic shock, praising the country's government for implementing all the priority action so that the Eurogroup last week had been able to give the go-ahead to the disbursement of the first financial aid instalment.
The aid Barroso was referring to will mostly be of a technical nature because, as he stated in a letter to Anastasiades last month, it is not possible to allocate greater funding to the island because there is no room for manoeuvre in the budget (see EUROPE 10828). The “support group” set up by the Commission will aim to work closely with Cypriots to make sure that EU funding is re-programmed and sent to areas where it will be of greatest use, thus making the most of the available funding. Technical experts will be sent to Cyprus to help it achieve the objectives of its structural adjustment programme, which Barroso described as the main engine for the necessary “new start for the Cypriot economy” because it had found itself in an unsustainable situation.
The Cypriot president has welcomed the decision to set up a support group. Echoing his comments the day before, after a meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Anastasiades said it was important that Europeans recognised the efforts of the Cypriot government and the Cypriot people.
“I would say that my current contacts would suggest that European leaders realise that Cyprus needs Europe's solidarity”, said Anastasiades, solidarity that he did not feel had been forthcoming at the Eurogroup meetings on aid for Cyprus.
“Cyprus is and stays firmly anchored in the EU”, said Barroso, adding: “I reiterated the importance to move forward with the discussions to reach a final agreement so much awaited by the Cypriot people and also so important for us in the EU”. (EL/transl.fl)