Brussels, 24/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner met a Cypriot delegation led by MEP Yiannakis Matsis to discuss the implementation of Structural funds in Cyprus and the new Cohesion policy 2007-2013, focussing on regional disparities on the island and the problems faced by rural and mountainous regions. In the next programming period, Cyprus is eligible for Objective 2 funding (regional competitiveness and employment) says Mrs Hübner's spokeswoman Ana-Paula Laissy in a press release and she added that proposals for actions for rural and mountainous regions were welcome.
Since joining the EU in 2004, two projects have been financed through the Cohesion fund at a total cost of 54 million euro: a motorway ring project (Limassol) and a regional waste project (Larnaka-Amochostos). Further to this and to funding through Community initiatives INTERREG and EQUAL, there are three Structural funds programmes in Cyprus, including one funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which will receive 28 million euro over the period 2004-2006 to promote the regeneration of urban and rural areas which face serious structural problems (support for tourism and for small rural businesses, improvement in infrastructure for business activities and improvement of accessibility both in towns and rural areas).