The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, assured on Thursday that the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) will not be a missed opportunity and affirmed that not a single euro will be left unspent, dismissing the notion of delays in its execution.
“The PRR will not be a missed opportunity. It is not delayed, contrary to popular belief. No euro will be left unspent. We are going to invest all the PRR subsidies. Indeed, the PRR was delayed when this government took office,” stated the minister on the SIC Notícias program “Negócios da Semana.”
It should be noted that Minister Castro Almeida will be summoned to Parliament to provide an update on the PRR and explain the execution delays.
The requests come from the parliamentary groups of Chega and the Socialist Party (PS), which were approved in the Committee on Economy and Territorial Cohesion, as reported by Pedro Coimbra (PS), who presides over the committee.
Along with Castro Almeida, the president of the Portuguese Recovery Task Force, Fernando Alfaiate, and the president of the PRR National Monitoring Commission, Pedro Dominguinhos, will also be summoned, as per the two requests.
In addition to the PRR, the Portugal 2030 program, which is in the early execution stage, is also expected to be discussed.
What is the current status?
At the end of June, the European Commission gave a preliminary favorable opinion on Portugal’s sixth payment request under the NextGenerationEU program.
The request, submitted on November 14, 2024, was approved following the successful fulfillment of 32 milestones and targets set in the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The Minister of Economy considered that the European Commission’s “positive assessment,” with a preliminary approval of Portugal’s sixth payment request, reinforces the government’s commitment to the efficient execution of the PRR.
The Minister of Economy remarked today that the “positive assessment” by the European Commission, providing a preliminary nod to Portugal’s sixth payment request, strengthens the government’s commitment to efficiently executing the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
On June 26, Portugal submitted the seventh payment request of the PRR to Brussels, which includes 21 milestones and targets for investments and six for reforms.
The seventh payment request of the PRR amounts to 1.064 billion euros, excluding pre-financing.
With the submission of these 27 milestones and targets in the seventh payment request, the execution rate of the PRR, set to conclude by mid-2026, rises to 47%.
The PRR aims to implement a series of reforms and investments intended to restore economic growth, running until 2026.
Besides repairing the damage caused by COVID-19, the plan aims to support investments and create jobs.
