Cyprus parliament rejects waste tax, risking loss of €48 million EU funding

The House of Representatives in Cyprus voted to reject a waste‑management amendment that would have introduced a sanitary landfill levy on municipal waste. The bill proposed a charge of €10 per tonne until the end of 2027, rising by €5 per tonne each year to €70. Rejection of the measure jeopardises the disbursement of €23 million from the EU Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and, together with national co‑financing, amounts to a loss of about €48 million for local authorities.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment criticised the decision, saying it undermines the government’s plan to modernise waste management and shifts the cost of inaction onto society. Opposition parties and municipal representatives warned that imposing the tax without adequate infrastructure would unfairly burden households and local budgets, labeling it a “tax of government incompetence”. The tax was part of a broader green fiscal reform linked to the final tranche of EU recovery funds.

Alongside the waste‑tax debate, parliament also considered the establishment of a new Cyprus Business Development Agency, but the waste‑tax rejection dominated the session.