José Sena Goulão / Lusa
The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida
PRR review plan sent to Brussels implies cuts of 43 million euros in the SNS, 235 million in the Digital School program, and 264 million in social responses. The Government says it had no choice, and will focus resources on interventions that can be completed by 2026.
The Portuguese Government delivered the final review of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to the European Commission on Friday, the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion announced this Saturday.
If Brussels accepts the review presented by the Government, the total value of the Portuguese PRR will decrease from 22,216 million euros to 21,905 million — a small reduction, less than 1.4% of the initial allocation, but with significant changes, with almost one billion of investment changing destination, highlights the .
According to this newspaper, the plan sent by the government includes cuts in 43 million euros on the SNS235 million in the Escola Digital program, 264 million in social responses and 298 million in sustainable transport, referring to projects that It will not be possible to complete until August of 2026.
Part of this amount will end up in the hands of Banco Português de Fomento, which will distribute to innovation and competitiveness projects in specific business sectors.
The Government claims that I had no choice. In a statement sent to newsrooms, the ministry of Manuel Castro Almeida adds that the review “concentrate resources in interventions that can be completed by 2026 and that bring visible benefits to communities and companies”, allowing “reinforce investments in important areas”, such as “those that focus on innovation”.
According to the Government, the review guarantees “that all subsidies provided for in the PRR will be fulfilled“, that “all PRR subsidies will be invested”, with some targets having been increased and “others reduced, ensuring that the final value remains the same”.
“The works that were planned to be financed with PRR loans and that cannot be carried out until August 2026, worth 311 million euroswill be carried out using other loanswith equivalent interest rates”.
This is the “case of the red line of the Lisbon Metro”, guarantees the ministry, after just over a week ago it was reported that the financing of the work could be at risk due to delays in the progress of the project.
The Government further explains that they were “deadlines adjusted and obstacles eliminated administrative tasks in proving milestones and targets” and that Brussels “will also accept, within the scope of the applicable rules, the elimination or mergers of milestones and intermediate targets or those associated with measures of reduced value”.
“Goals for building new houses were merged with the goals of rehabilitating houses unfit for habitation, which were previously disintegrated. They were also disaggregated and the goals of building palliative care units and continued care units are now merged”, he adds.
With this review, the plan now has 196 milestones and goals, which will be presented in the 8th payment request later this year and in the 9th and 10th requests to be submitted in 2026.
Quoted in a statement, the Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion highlights that “Portugal today has a simpler, clearer and more results-oriented PRR” and that “the necessary adjustments have been made to ensure that everything in the Recovery and Resilience Plan will be completed successfully”.
“The PRR is to fulfill and not to promise. We are ensuring that each investment translates into results on the ground, in companies and in people’s lives”, highlights Castro Almeida.
