Cyprus Parliament approves enterprise agency but rejects waste management tax

On Tuesday, the Cypriot Parliament voted unanimously to establish the Cyprus Enterprise Development Agency (CEDA) with an initial capital of €60 million to support small and medium-sized businesses. This initiative, a milestone of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, aims to bridge the financing gap for high-risk enterprises by providing loans and guarantees. However, in a separate vote, the Parliament rejected the government's waste management bill, which included a sanitary landfill tax of €10 per ton. The bill was defeated by 26 votes against and 19 in favor, with opposition coming from AKEL, ELAM, ALMA, and the Direct Democracy movement, supported by the Union of Municipalities. Critics argued the tax would place an unfair financial burden on citizens while necessary infrastructure, such as proper management facilities, remains undeveloped. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that this rejection blocks access to €23 million in European recovery funding, which would have reached €48 million with national co-financing. This loss follows a previous loss of €15 million due to the lack of a carbon tax. The government defended the measure as a necessary step to meet EU waste management targets, noting that current landfill rates stand at 68% against a 10% goal for 2035.