Cyprus to get €2 million back from EU

THE EUROPEAN Union’s 2006 budget showed a 1.848 million euro surplus, according to the European Commission, which will be returned to member states, depending on their contributions.

Cyprus is set to receive 2 million euros, while Greece will receive 32 million euros.

Germany will receive the lion’s share, with a return of 355 million euros, while Britain will follow with 308 million euros and France with 291 million euros.

The EC has expressed its total satisfaction at the way European funds are being used, while it announced that 99 per cent of funds were absorbed.

The money will not be paid out in cash but will be taken into consideration in the 2007 budget, where member states’ contributions will be reduced.

According to the EC announcement, member states are set to receive the following (in euro): Belgium 51 million, Czech Republic 17 million, Bulgaria 4 million, Denmark 36 million, Germany 366 million, Estonia 2 million, Greece 32 million, Spain 159 million, France 291 million, Ireland 25 million, Italy 232 million, Cyprus 2 million, Latonia 3 million, Lithuania 4 million, Luxemburg 4 million, Hungary 14 million, Malta 1 million, Holland 84 million, Austria 41 million, Poland 42 million, Portugal 24 million, Romania 16 million, Slovenia 5 million, Slovakia 7 million, Finland 27 million, Sweden 49 million and the United Kingdom 308 million.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.