The proposal to reprogram the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) will allow Madeira to have 50 million euros to reinforce the financial allocation of projects, due to inflation, indicated today the Secretary of State for Planning.
“We have seen a considerable increase in inflation, but also the difficulty of obtaining some components, some raw materials. This has inflated prices, particularly for construction contracts, everything related to construction is very evident, but also in other areas, such as digital,” said Eduardo Pinheiro.
“Therefore, what we did was also to ensure in this reprogramming, with the [European] Commission, an increase in funds for existing projects,” added the Secretary of State for Planning, speaking to journalists at the end of a meeting with the Regional Secretary for Finance, Rogério Gouveia, in Funchal.
According to Eduardo Pinheiro, the meeting between the two leaders served to monitor the implementation of the RRP in the region, “but also to take stock of the reprogramming” of the plan.
The reprogramming of the RRP “will guarantee, on the one hand, the possibility for Madeira to have more projects and increase the ambition in some of these projects”.
“And not least, with a reinforcement of 50 million euros to face the increase in costs that we have seen, […] in some of the projects that were already underway and, therefore, we are now waiting for a decision from the [European] Commission, but obviously we cannot stand still and miss this historic opportunity for the country”, underlined the Secretary of State for Planning.
Asked if the country will be able to comply with the RRP by 2026, Eduardo Pinheiro indicated that the Government is working towards this.
“That is precisely the objective. As part of this reprogramming, we were able to adapt to the new situation, but never changing the end date of 2026, because we cannot do that. Therefore, we have to join efforts of all those who participate, of all entities, to ensure its implementation”, he stressed.
The Secretary of State for Planning visited Madeira for two days for a series of institutional meetings and visits to projects supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and the multi-annual financial mechanism EEA Grants.
Madeira has €561 million from the RRP for regional projects, plus €136 million in national calls for local entities to apply.
In addition to these funds, EUR 91 million will be added as a result of the reprogramming submitted to Brussels, said the regional secretary for finance, Rogério Gouveia.
The head of the Finance portfolio in the Regional Government, of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, also said that Madeira currently has a PRR execution rate of 43%.
Rogério Gouveia considered that, despite the difficulties in implementing the plan, its implementation is taking place “at cruising speed in Madeira” and the projects are being put on the ground “at a good pace”.
“Regardless of the targets and milestones we are bound to, I think we can be looking at a scenario of full implementation of the RRP by 2026 and that is what we are focused on and committed to working on,” he said.
At the end of May, Portugal submitted a proposal to Brussels for reprogramming the RRP, with an allocation of over €22 billion.
The total amount of the RRP (€16,644 million – initial amount), managed by the Recovering Portugal Task Force, is divided into its three structuring dimensions – resilience (€11,125 million), climate transition (€3,059 million) and digital transition (€2,460 million).
Of the total allocation, around €13.9 billion is for grants and €2.7 billion for loans.
