The government assured this Friday that it was in “very close talks” with the European Commission for the reprogramming of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), in terms of funding and project adaptation, with the hope that it will be finalized this year .
“We are always[talking]very closely with the European Commission and so all aspects are being considered for the reprogramming, not just in terms of funds, but also the suitability of some projects and we believe that will be taken into account. port wine”declared the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva.
On the sidelines of an institutional visit to Mercadona’s logistics block in Almeirim, in the Santarém district, the minister spoke of a “major challenge” that he said “will be completed in the course of this year”.
“I’m not sure exactly what the deadlines are, because that’s the Secretary of State for Planning who deals directly with the European Commission, but we participated in the meeting precisely to provide the elements that structure our argument for the reprogramming, and I hope that happens”emphasized António Costa Silva.
A source linked to the process explained to the Lusa agency that Portugal must first complete the renegotiation of the plan with the European Commission, including the chapter on investments in the REPowerEU energy package, before submitting the next request for payment.
Portugal is currently the sixth country in the European Union with the most funds raised for the PRR, around €5.14 billion (€4.07 billion in grants and €1.07 billion in loans), and fourth with the highest implementation with a rate of 17% , according to the most recent data from the European Commission on the implementation of plans at European level.
An official community manager source told Lusa that the implementation of the PRR in Portugal is “completely as planned”, indicating that it is overseeing the fulfillment of another 38 milestones and targets for the country to receive another disbursement .
In response, António Costa Silva said that “the implementation of the PRR is in line with what was programmed”, an implementation rate of 32% is expected by the end of this year. “If we achieve that, it will be a very important signal for the future”he added.
António Costa Silva highlighted the “huge response from Portuguese companies” applicable to the PRR and emphasized the need to “have money for this” and “for other sectors”, so “all of this will be taken into account” in the reprogramming , which takes place during an “absolutely transformative time” of high inflation, energy crisis and war in Ukraine.
So far, Portugal has already received the first two payments, amounting to EUR 1.82 billion in February 2023 and EUR 1.16 billion in May 2022, amounts to which will be added EUR 2.2 billion in pre-financing in August 2021, amounts including grants and loans. The country has so far raised 31% of the total funds.
Such disbursements come after the Community administration considered that Portugal had fulfilled the 52 phases and six objectives associated with its first and second payment requests. The Portuguese PRR has a total allocation of €16.6 billion, €13.9 billion in grants and €2.7 billion in loans.
The Recovery and Resilience Mechanism entered into force in the EU in February 2021 to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: DN
