Filenews 2 March 2021
The Commission has today approved 226 development-enhancing reform projects to be financed by the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) in the 27 Member States with a total budget of EUR 102.6 million for the year 202 1.
In the first round of the TSI, the Commission will support Cyprus with 13 projects in the fields of energy and climate, insolvency, education, green taxation, sustainable mobility, health, customs, social security systems, broadband and data-driven surveillance. TSI will also develop capabilities for the implementation of recovery and resilience plans.
In detail, projects in Cyprus concern the digitisation of insolvency proceedings and the creation of special courts for the management of insolvency cases, the creation of a national promotion agency to support business development through financial instruments, the preparation and implementation of a green tax reform. Also review the national energy and climate plan and support the creation of the Broadband Responsibilities Office.
Support from TSI (which is the successor to the Structural Reform Support Programme - MSM, with over 1,000 projects from 2017 in all Member States) also concerns the challenges identified in the country-specific recommendations, with an increased budget of EUR 864 million. For the period 2021-2027, it can also "provide technical support to help Member States draw up and implement recovery and resilience plans in order to be better prepared to access the financing of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism", the Commission says.
"Overall, over 60% of TSI's default projects for 2021 relate to the implementation of recovery and resilience plans, 30% focus on the Green Agreement and 44% on the digital transition," the Commission calculates.
It is noted that the reforms eligible for TSI support concern, inter alia, public administration, governance, tax policies, the business environment, the financial sector, the labour market, education systems, social services, healthcare, green transition — e.g. the wave of renovations — and digital services. Strengthening institutional and administrative capacity to plan and implement reforms and investments is absolutely necessary to strengthen resilience and support recovery.
Cohesion and Reform Commissioner Eliza Ferreira stressed that "reforms are necessary to improve the business environment, strengthen healthcare systems, strengthen social and education systems and, overall, strengthen the resilience of Member States and stakeholders when faced with difficult challenges and global crises."
The Commission recalls that Cyprus has so far benefited from 44 projects funded by TSI's predecessor, the Structural Reform Support Programme. This support has addressed a wide range of policy areas, such as justice, health, fiscal policies, green transition, competitiveness, energy, corruption prevention, labour market, public administration, digitisation, education and insolvency. Particular emphasis was placed on the digitisation of public administration, judicial reform, education, insolvency, competitiveness and anti-corruption measures.
In detail, the Commission supported Cyprus in strengthening its judicial system, enhancing the effectiveness of the courts. The programme provided expertise to create objective criteria for the recruitment and evaluation of judges. As a result of this project, Cyprus has introduced new procedures for the selection and promotion of judges on the basis of their merit. The new procedures stress the importance of the qualifications, integrity, independence, competence and effectiveness of judges in the system.
It also supported Cyprus in the development of the first Competitiveness Report, providing an overview of Cyprus' competitiveness, including social and environmental sustainability. The programme provided expertise to help assess the country's competitiveness performance, while identifying key challenges and providing appropriate policy actions to address them.
Finally, it supported Cyprus in enhancing the effectiveness of the legislative framework governing insolvency. As a result of this project, a specialised insolvency department was established in January 2020. The new section will contribute to the consolidation of insolvency proceedings and the empowerment of professional insolvency professionals through continuous professional development.
Eyenews/AFP
