The revised PRR (Plan for Recovery & Resilience) sent to Brussels involves cuts of €43 million in the SNS national health service, €235 million in the ‘Digital School programme’ (principally for ensuring Wi-fi coverage), €264 million in social responses, and €298 million in sustainable transport.
The government says it had no choice and has to focus resources on interventions that can be completed by 2026.
This was the final version of the PRR (the funding that former prime minister António Costa stressed nearly five years ago represented an opportunity that could not be wasted). The Portuguese government submitted it to the European Commission just before the weekend, the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion announced yesterday.
If Brussels accepts this revision, the total value of the Portuguese PRR will drop from €22.216 billion to €21.905 billion — a small reduction, less than 1.4% of the initial allocation, but with significant changes, with almost €1 billion in investment being reallocated, according to Público.
The paper explains that the measures cut (as per the introductory paragraph) refer to projects that will not be possible to complete by August 2026 (the PRR deadline).
Part of this money will end up in the hands of Banco Português de Fomento, which will distribute it to innovation and competitiveness projects in specific business sectors, says Público, stressing the government insists there was no other way.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion said that the revision “focuses resources on interventions that can be completed by 2026 and that bring visible benefits to communities and businesses”, allowing “greater investment in important areas”, such as “those focused on innovation”.
According to the government, the revision ensures “that all subsidies provided for in the PRR will be fulfilled”, that “all PRR subsidies will be invested”, with some targets being increased and “others decreased, ensuring that the final amount 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 euros – will be carried out using other loans, with equivalent interest rates,” says the statement
This includes “the Lisbon Metro red line”, the ministry assures, after it was reported just over a week ago that the financing of the work could be at risk due to delays in the project’s progress – and the construction of the new hospital Lisboa Oriental .
The government also explains that “deadlines have been adjusted and administrative obstacles in the verification of milestones and targets have been removed”, and that Brussels “will also accept, within the applicable rules, the elimination or merging of milestones and targets that are intermediate or associated with measures of reduced value”.
“The targets for building new homes have been merged with the targets for renovating homes unfit for habitation, which were previously separate. The targets for building palliative care units and long-term care units were also separate and have now been merged,” the statement adds
With this revision, the plan now has 196 milestones and targets, 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 the statement, Minister for Economy and Territorial Cohesion Manuel Castro Almeida points out that “Portugal now 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 successfully completed”.
“The PRR is there to be fulfilled, not just promised’, said Castro Almeida. “We are ensuring that every investment translates into results on the ground, in businesses and in people’s lives.”
Sources: ZAP/ Observador
