European Union funding available to Cyprus through the EU cohesion policy is expected to contribute to the creation of around 800 new businesses and more than 1,600 jobs, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy Themis Christofidou said on Tuesday.
Christofidou focused on the EU initiative on the “right to stay”, noting that one in three Europeans, or almost 150 million people, live in a region that has lost population over the past two decades.
A similar number, she said, live in areas that have experienced economic decline, with young and skilled workers often forced to leave their communities due to a lack of jobs, opportunities and services.
“The right to stay is about giving people a reason to stay. Quality jobs, education, infrastructure, public services. All the elements necessary for a good quality of life”, she added.
Christofidou said the European Commission is preparing a strategy on the “right to stay”, which is expected to be presented early next year. More than 700 contributions from stakeholders were submitted during the relevant consultation.
She added that the main pillars of the strategy are already clear, with education at the centre. Universities that offer high-quality education, she said, “do more than teach” and “give young people a reason to imagine their future close to home”, while also driving innovation and competitiveness in their regions.
Referring specifically to Cyprus, Christofidou said that, through the cohesion policy, €13 million is being invested in engineering research laboratory facilities at the University of Cyprus, while €30 million is being allocated to a scheme for the development of new business activity, expected to result in the creation of around 800 new enterprises and more than 1,600 new jobs.
She also referred to investments of almost €3 million for the restoration of three historic municipal buildings in Limassol on Misiaouli and Kavazoglou street, €2 million for Salina Municipal Park in Larnaca and €44 million for upgrading public passenger transport infrastructure and supporting the transition to electric mobility.
Almost €2 million, she added, has been invested in the “Evagoras” integrated information system for the development of digital municipal services, making it easier for citizens to interact with local authorities.
Christofidou said education, jobs, local services, attractive public spaces, mobility and digital access should not be viewed as separate priorities, but as “six threads of the same fabric” and as the conditions people need to build a life and a future in the place they call “home”.
“That is what cohesion policy is bringing forward: to give people, Cyprus, Europe, a future worth staying for”, she added.
