The European Commission approved the Portuguese Government’s request to reprogram the European funds for PT2030, as well as the regional operational programs of the current community support framework, it was announced this Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, “the European Commission approved the request for mid-term reprogramming of the thematic program Sustentável 2030 and the regional programs Algarve, Alentejo, Centro, Norte and Madeira 2030, which allows Portugal to ensure compliance with the level of execution provided for by the N+3 rule”.
“This reprogramming was carried out based on the new strategic priorities identified by the European Commission in view of the evolution of the geopolitical context and the need to reinforce the response to the European Union’s structural challenges”, says the ministry led by Manuel Castro Almeida.
The five priority areas defined by Brussels are competitiveness and decarbonization; defense and security; affordable housing; water resilience and energy transition, according to the ministry.
The guardianship also points out that, along with these new priorities, “there is also associated with greater flexibility in the implementation of cohesion policy funds, namely the payment of pre-financing, the increase in the co-financing rate and the extension of the program execution period”.
For Castro Almeida, quoted in the statement, “this was another step to ensure that Portugal does not lose any euro of community funds and overcome the delay with which it started the project.”
The reprogramming, he adds, is a guarantee of eliminating the “risk of the ‘guillotine’ and guarantees European funds”.
Even so, and even with a change in objectives, “the initial allocations for the programs remain unchanged”.
“In the case of the Sustainable 2030 program, for example, allocations for projects within the scope of intelligent energy systems and adaptation to climate change were reinforced”, says the ministry.
In the case of regional programs, “allocations were reinforced in areas such as sustainable water management, development and manufacturing of critical technologies, defense, construction in response to natural disasters and affordable housing, among others”.
“With this reprogramming, Portugal ensures that all programs involved comply with the execution levels imposed by the N+3 rule, avoiding the loss of around 890 million euros”, as the rule “defines execution levels throughout the seven-year cycle of PT2030 programs, with the financial envelopes subject to cuts if they fail to comply”.
On Monday, it had already become known that the Centro Regional Program 2021-2027 (Centro 2030) would undergo modifications, which expand financing for social and affordable housing, to support critical technology projects and for business initiatives in the defense area.
Also on Friday, the Alentejo Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-Alentejo) had already informed that the European Commission approved the reprogramming of the Alentejo 2030 Regional Program, which now includes new priorities such as defense, water, affordable and sustainable housing and skills for decarbonization.
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