The 23 million euros that Cyprus was set to receive from the Recovery and Resilience Facility would have gone up in smoke had the House of Representatives given the green light today to impose a landfill tax on municipal waste, following the plenary session’s rejection of the relevant bill.

DISY and DIKO voted in favor. Criticizing the government for the delayed submission of the bill, the Democratic Alarm Party justified its decision, which it made on the condition that the revenue generated by the tax would be returned to local authorities. 

“If the additional funds charged to local authorities are not reflected in the 2027 budget as an increase in state subsidies, we will introduce a new bill to repeal this one.” ” ^{Andreas Konstantinou, DISY}

^{Member of Parliament} The debate was marked by fierce criticism of the long-standing mismanagement of waste. 

“This should have been called a ‘government incompetence tax’ that all households in Cyprus will have to bear.” ^{Nikos Kettiros, AKEL Member of Parliament}

“Given the tragic mismanagement of the entire state—which even involves private citizens—we, as a European country, cannot have what common sense would dictate regarding waste management.” ^{Linos Papagiannis, ELAM Member of Parliament}: “All

governments in recent years have turned a blind eye. I won’t claim that the current government bears no responsibility for the fact that there was a delay in decision-making.” ^{Nicholas Papadopoulos, President of DIKO}

^: Members of Parliament were vocal about the lack of necessary infrastructure. 

“We are discussing the collapse of the strategy and the revelation of the Environment Department’s inability to manage this issue as it should have.” ” ^{Odysseas Michaelides, President of the ALMA Movement} “The

public’s pocketbook demands a thorough study, not hasty decisions.” ^{Yiannis Laouris}, ^{Member of Parliament for Direct Democracy}

Late in the afternoon, shortly after the vote, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a statement describing the development as particularly negative. 

“Today’s rejection does not nullify the government’s plan. It deprives local authorities of resources they themselves requested, limits the tools available for modernizing waste management, and once again shifts the cost of inaction onto society and the environment.” ^{Ministry of Agriculture}

Sources from the Ministry of Finance indicate, however, that efforts will be made to ensure that not all of the European funding is lost

.““Green Light” for KOAE

On the other hand, the House of Representatives gave the green light to another prerequisite for the Recovery Fund, approving the bill to establish the Cyprus Business Development Agency with 47 votes in favor. The

agency’s purpose is to facilitate access to financing for the self-employed, small and medium-sized enterprises, and startups. 

Watch the report by Rafaella Stavrinou