The Prime Minister this Monday devalued the way the President of the Republic warned his Minister of Territorial Cohesion about the implementation of the Structural Funds, as Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has “moments of creativity”.
This position was conveyed by António Costa in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on his first of two days of participating in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27), after being asked about the tone the head of state used last Saturday. , in Trofa district of Porto, to publicly pass on a series of warnings to the Minister Ana Abrunhosa.
The President of the Republic warned her, among other things, that he will be “very considerate” and will not forgive her if he discovers that the implementation rate of European funds is not what he thinks it should be.
“I’m honest, Saturday I hung up to rest. So I didn’t hear the words right away [do Presidente da República]”, began with the reply of António Costa, which made the journalists laugh. “Yes, yes, don’t laugh, just because I am prime minister, I also have the right to rest,” the leader of the executive branch responded briefly then.
Then the prime minister emphasized that he has been living with the current president of the republic for almost seven years.
“I started my duties with the previous president of the republic [Cavaco Silva], but I have a long experience with the current one. Each has its own style, each has its own course of action, each has its own way of interpreting the constitutional powers, as our constitution is quite clear, although adaptable to the personality of everyone who performs these functions,” he said.
In António Costa’s perspective, “all Portuguese appreciate the way the President of the Republic has carried out his functions, which has moments of greater creativity”.
“But I think that’s normal, nobody gets it wrong. the female minister [Ana Abrunhosa]said by the way that he did not misunderstand, he was there and understood the intervention perfectly in the context of the informality with which everything happened”, added.
Costa calm with the implementation of the PRR “without worries” and with no intention of “feeding the news”
The Prime Minister spoke calmly about the pace of implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and stressed that those with executive responsibilities should carry out the plan without worry and without worrying about feeding the news.
Faced with warnings from the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and other political leaders about the existence of delays in the implementation of European funds by Portugal, especially at the level of the PRR, the leader of the Portuguese executive assured power that he follows this process “with great peace of mind”.
“A program that has to be executed until the end of 2026 should not be completed by the end of 2022. It has to be executed in the exact terms in which it is contracted and programmed – and that is what is happening,” he emphasized.
After that, António Costa made a distinction between executive and supervisory functions.
“Those who manage and have executive responsibilities must plan and execute according to the plan, without living in fear, nor with the concern of giving news or making news for the news. Our concern must be to properly execute these funds. whose function is to oversee the work of others must fulfill this function,” he pointed out.
In this context, he then referred to the supervisory authorities, starting with the Court of Auditors, “which checks whether or not funds are being spent well”.
“It is normal for the General Inspectorate of Finance to do this and for the President of the Republic to do the same. Anyone who is inspected should think that it is normal to be under surveillance. But what you should do is not to be distracted by inspections and focus on actions. That’s what executives are for: act, do to achieve,” he emphasized.
In front of journalists, the Prime Minister pointed out that the PRR’s implementation schedule “is provided in the contract itself, has dates – and for each date there are targets and milestones”.
“The way to check whether it is ahead or behind is whether we have met the targets and met the milestones. Now, regarding the first set, the European Commission has not only validated it, but has already paid for it. regarding the second set, already delivered in Brussels and validating the European Commission,” he said.
So far, from António Costa’s perspective, there have been “no problems” and Brussels “will certainly proceed to the payment of the second tranche in the near future”.
“And we will continue to work towards fulfilling the third, fourth, fifth and all consecutive tranches so that by December 31, 2026, we have flawlessly executed the PRR,” he added.
According to the prime minister, regarding the first phase, Portugal has “met all the targets and milestones and the European Commission has already made the first payment”.
“We have now completed the second cycle of targets and milestones, we have already presented it to the European Commission and it is currently being verified. Therefore, I am convinced that between November and December, the European Commission will release the second tranche of these at the pace in which the programs must be implemented,” emphasized António Costa.
Still regarding the PRR, the prime minister also tried to point out that “a large part should not be implemented directly by the state, but by companies, municipalities, private social solidarity institutions (IPSS) or non-governmental organizations”.
“And everyone is mobilized to carry out the execution. Last Friday, the Minister of the Presidency [Mariana Vieira da Silva] had the opportunity to announce that the first billion euros has already been paid and is in progress. Therefore, the country can be reassured by our collective ability to implement the PRR,” he added.
News updated at 12:03
Source: DN
