The Prime Minister announced on Thursday, in the presence of the President of the Republic, that the European Commission has already given the “green light” for the third and fourth payments to Portugal under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), for a total amount of 2,400 million euros.
António Costa made this point during the ceremony of presenting Christmas greetings to the President of the Republic, at the Palace of Belém, after recalling in his speech the challenge that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has posed to his government in this matter , practically since mid-2022.
With the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, who holds the PRR portfolio, at his side, the Leader of the Executive recalled the content of the central message conveyed by the President of the Republic in his New Year’s intervention, saying that 2023 “It would be a decisive year for the implementation of the European funds and in particular the PRR”.
“I said that it was a difficult year and that we could not have the illusion that we would have 2024, 2025 and 2026 to implement it. This was not an easy year because there were many requests”started pointing.
However, according to the Prime Minister, ‘the truth’ is that the government “We managed to arrive at the Belém Palace today with good news”.
“The European Commission has just approved the transfer to Portugal, next week, of an amount corresponding to the essential part of the third and fourth payments of the PRR. That is 2,400 million euros.”specified.
According to data from António Costa, in the European Union there is “only one country left that will receive the fourth payment”, such as Portugal.
“There is still a part left, about 700 million euros, but it will be paid in the first months of the year, since in January a diploma already promulgated by the President of the Republic on integrated responsibility centers in hospitals will come into force .”he noted shortly afterwards.
Also according to the Prime Minister, parliament, where the PS has an absolute majority, should confirm on January 3 the diplomas vetoed by the President of the Republic on the reform of the professional orders, and “If there are no constitutional vicissitudes, they will come into force to allow timely payment” by the European Commission.
On the other hand, António Costa added, there are now only about twenty municipalities that have not yet signed the health decentralization agreement – the third condition for Portugal to receive the remaining 700 million missing third and fourth payments from the Union. European.
For the Prime Minister, although the progress of the PRR is the government’s Christmas gift for the President of the Republic, the Head of State has also given the socialist executive a gift with the promulgation of the 2024 state budget.
“We both have good Christmas gifts to exchange, for the good of the country. The President of the Republic has just announced the state budget for 2024. Whoever governs in 2024 will have a budget that ensures balanced public accounts and a second year in a row. Most importantly, the incomes of the Portuguese will be improved, along with the promotion of investments and the guarantee of future protection, both in terms of strengthening social security and reducing the national debt.”orphan.
The President of the Republic notes “with joy” the news of new PRR payments
The President of the Republic said on Thursday that he noted “with joy” the news from the Prime Minister that the European Commission has already given “the green light” for the third and fourth disbursement of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) . ).
The Head of State, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who spoke after the Prime Minister, responded to this announcement in his speech: “I take with joy the news you give about the PRR.”
Then the President of the Republic referred to the changes in the statutes of the professional associations related to the PRR, a number of which he vetoed: “I have tried in my own way to contribute to 21 professional bodies that from the beginning would all like to have their statutes vetoed. Only seven were vetoed, 14 were promulgated”.
‘And there we have, since always, had some differences of opinion in the view of the matter. One of many that wasn’t talked about publicly. But the fact is that everything has been done in time for the payouts, minus 600 million, and the 600 million – a little more – will be on the way in due course.”he added.
On this occasion, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also addressed the concerns he expressed about the “on-the-spot execution rate” of the initial PRR disbursement.
“And I have to admit that this lagged quite a bit until the middle of this year, but from the spring-summer transition until the end of the year it recovered and surpassed 3,000 million executions locally, having been at 1,800 for a while. long time, 1,900 million”he said.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, discussed this topic and recalled that in his last New Year’s message, the President of the Republic referred to 2023 as “a decisive year” for the implementation of European funds and in particular those of the PRR .
“This has not been an easy year, because there were many requests. But the truth is that today we can arrive at the Belém Palace with good news: the European Commission has just approved the transfer to Portugal, next week, of an amount equivalent with the essence of the third and fourth payments of the PRR. That is 2,400 million euros.”announced António Costa.
According to the Prime Minister in the European Union “There is only one country left that will receive the fourth payment”.
António Costa added “There is a portion left, about 700 million euros, but that will be paid in the first months of the year”when a diploma on integrated responsibility centers in hospitals will enter into force and the Assembly of the Republic will confirm the seven diplomas vetoed by the President of the Republic and which reform the statutes of the professional associations.
These diplomas, “If there are no constitutional vicissitudes, they will come into force to allow timely payment” by the European Commission.
On the other hand, António Costa added, there are now only about twenty municipalities that have not yet signed the health decentralization agreement – the third condition for Portugal to receive the remaining 700 million in missing PRR funds.
Source: DN
