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E.U. Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner yesterday called for more cooperation between municipalities in the absorption of EU funds for development projects. During a joint news conference with Finance Minister Michalis Sarris, Hubner, who was in Cyprus on a two-day visit to check on projects being carried out with EU funding, urged the money be spent.
Cyprus has been allocated 640 million euro for co-financed projects for the years 2007-2013 and for the first time, Larnaca and Paphos have been included.
The money is double the funding made available for projects from 2004-2006.
“We shouldn't be happy when we don't use the funds,” Hubner said. “Needs are endless. Be happy there is spending and preparation for the future.” Hubner said she and her team had been satisfied with what they had seen during her visit and that there had been a definite shift towards important types of investment for the future of Cyprus. This also created competitiveness, she said.
But one area which she said needed some attention was a need for cooperation, not only between different municipalities on different projects but also in the co-financing of projects with the private sector.
“Not all projects should be treated individually. Some will require cooperation between municipalities. There is a need to cooperate on job projects. It’s better to work together,” she said.
Hubner said that so far in Cyprus the EU had not seen any project as yet that was directly related to the business community such as science parks or incubators with business and research working in partnership.
“We still need to prepare projects to see Cyprus well placed on the innovation map,” said Hubner.
Cyprus didn't have to make the same mistakes as others because there were plenty of previous examples to learn from. She said learning from others would help the Cyprus economy to ‘leap frog”.
Hubner referred to the island’s geographical location as a gateway to other countries and said that much more funds were available in 2007 for cross-border cooperation.
She also said energy projects were currently a priority for the EU, and had also seen that they were a priority for the Cyprus government during her visit. | 
