EU-steun aan Turks-Cypriotische bevolking op Cyprus voor 99% besteed (en)

IP/09/1987

Brussels, 21 December 2009

Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community fully contracted

Over 99 percent of the € 259 million Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community has been contracted by the European Commission before the deadline of last Friday 18 December 2009. A total of 880 contracts, most of them grants, have been signed.

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn i, warmly welcomed this success: "The EU is delivering very substantial support to the Turkish Cypriot community as promised in 2004, as a means to end its isolation and to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, the Commission has managed to commit practically all the funds available for projects in a unique and challenging political and legal environment. This is a major achievement. The European Union is committed to end the long-standing division of the island, and to support reunification in every way we can, in the interest of all the citizens of Cyprus and of the European Union."

Examples of projects financed include :

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  Grants to Turkish Cypriot NGOs, villages, schools, students, SMEs (€ 35 million)

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  Reconciliation and confidence building projects such as demining (€ 6.5 million) and the Committee of Missing Persons (€ 3.5 million)

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  Projects in the water sector including desalination and waste water treatment plants in the northern part of Cyprus (€ 73 million)

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  Assistance to support the preparation for the implementation of the " acquis communautaire" in the northern part of Cyprus following reunification (€14.5 million)

Details of contracts, including recipients of grants, will be published shortly on the Aidco website:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm

The implementation of the projects will continue until 2012.