“Yesterday [Monday] marked the opening of a notice that requires our comment as it shows a total disregard for Portuguese municipalities. It violates the principles that inspired the decentralization agreement,” stated Luísa Salgueiro.
The government announced on Monday the launch of the first call for applications with funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), allowing local authorities to apply for renovation works at 22 schools nationwide.
In a joint statement, the Ministries of Education, Science and Innovation, and Economy and Territorial Cohesion stated that the “deadline for submitting applications is March 31, 2026, and the projects are expected to commence in the second half of next year, with a maximum execution period of 48 months.”
The 22 eligible schools, covering the 2nd and 3rd cycles of Basic Education and Secondary Education, are those “classified as Very Urgent in the Sectoral Agreement of Commitment for the Financing of the Recovery/Rehabilitation Program,” which the government signed with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) in 2023.
According to the government’s statement, the contract for the disbursement of the first tranche of 300 million euros, part of the total one billion euros EIB funding, was signed in May by the Agency for the Management of Treasury and Public Debt (IGCP). A new notice for schools classified as P2 — Urgent will soon be released.
Following a meeting of the board of directors, the ANMP president recalled that in the education sector, municipalities have taken on the responsibility for managing schools, which was previously entirely under the Ministry of Education’s charge.
“The fundamental assumption of this transfer was that all costs for the works would be fully covered by the government. A survey of all schools needing these interventions was conducted, and in the meantime, the government entered into a funding agreement with the European Investment Bank worth one billion euros to finance the works with identified needs, with various priorities,” she noted.
With the funding agreement of one billion euros with the EIB established for this purpose, the president of the Matosinhos City Council does not understand why the notice published on Monday only covers 22 schools, valued at 300 million euros.
“The municipalities have already moved forward, trusting the established commitments, developing projects, advancing with procedures, some have even started the works, and now a notice appears that does not respect what has been worked on since July 2022. It is incomprehensible!” she criticized.
Speaking to Lusa, the mayor also stated that municipalities demand the swift opening of a new notice, allowing the execution of the remaining amount contracted with the European Investment Bank and that “fulfills the commitments the Portuguese state assumed with the municipalities.”
“This is disrespectful to the work we have done: we have hundreds of projects, all ready, waiting for the notices,” she reiterated.
According to Luísa Salgueiro, the ANMP will submit a document to the government demanding that “a notice be published quickly to advance the renovation of the other identified schools,” “at least until the agreed amount is exhausted.”
