Minister of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus, Yannis Karousos, and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, met on Tuesday 31 May, in Athens, to discuss the new EU legislative package "Fit for 55".

The two Ministers exchanged views on the impact of the EU legislative package, emphasizing the regulations that concern the aviation sector (ReFuelEU Aviation), which has already been severely affected by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The Cypriot Minister of Transport, Communications and Works conveyed to his Greek counterpart Cyprus' concerns about the economic impact of this piece of legislation on island countries and countries in the periphery of the EU.

As he noted, Cyprus has submitted a number of suggestions which, if incorporated into the legislative package, will mitigate the negative effects for the aviation, tourism and economic sectors.

The Cypriot Minister also referred to an impact assessment tool that Cyprus has developed in order to assess the impact that concrete legislative measures have on aviation. Karousos said that a number of EU countries asked for more information on Cyprus' proposals, after using this tool. This shows that no calculation has been done concerning the cost the new legislation will have on state economies, Karousos underlined.

On his part, Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport conveyed to his Cypriot counterpart that Greece shares Cyprus' concerns in view of the discussion to be held between EU Transport Ministers, in Luxembourg, on Thursday, June 2.

Furthermore, he expressed the readiness of the Greek Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure for further cooperation and coordination in order to enable the inclusion of the Cypriot proposals in the legislative package.

At the same time, the two Ministers confirmed that Cyprus and Greece remain committed to the "Fit for 55" objectives, which concern the environment and the reduction of pollutant emissions.

Finally, the two Ministers discussed broader issues of common interest, such as the promotion of electric mobility and the upgrading of public transports.