“We will execute 100%, and that is the commitment we have, the PRR [Recovery and Resilience Plan] allocated to Culture”, stated the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, during a visit to the Jerónimos Monastery and the National Archaeology Museum, both located in Lisbon. She was responding to journalists’ questions about whether any part of the PRR in Culture would remain unexecuted.
The most recent quarterly monitoring report of the PRR, dated March, shows that in the Culture component, 100% has been contracted, while slightly more than a quarter (28%) has been paid.
According to the latest weekly report from Wednesday, the 28% remains “paid to direct and final beneficiaries,” with an additional 19% “in transit to intermediate beneficiaries.”
The National Commission for Monitoring the PRR has rated the Culture component of the plan as “Critical” in the report approved at the end of May this year, analyzing data from March.
Considering “the high number of works being managed,” the commission recommends “the possibility of using the 2nd quarter of 2026 to complete the works, as this investment is included in the 10th payment request, since many works are just beginning and others will only start in the 2nd half, all with high complexity.”
On Wednesday, the Minister of Economy announced that the Government is preparing a new reprogramming of the PRR and aims to ensure that unexecuted funds are directed to a fund supporting business innovation and competitiveness.
When asked today whether Culture would be included in this reprogramming, the Minister of Culture replied: “We have about 345 million euros allocated to Culture—with approximately 240 million euros in the Cultural Heritage component—and it is going well.”
“We have made some adjustments, in this case, the public entity responsible, Património Cultural, IP, has been monitoring each project daily,” she said.
Margarida Balseiro Lopes also stated that the Government’s “goal and commitment” is “to execute everything allocated for intervention in Cultural Heritage concerning the PRR.”
The PRR is a European funding mechanism designed for structural reforms in response to the pandemic crisis caused by COVID-19.
In the Culture area, referred to as measure C4 – Culture, a total of 346 million euros is allocated, including funding of 102.39 million euros in the cultural networks and digital transition component, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Among the 85 interventions planned in the PRR are works in the Jerónimos Monastery, the National Archaeology Museum, the National Museum of Ancient Art, the national theatres of São Carlos and D. Maria II in Lisbon, the Convent of Christ in Tomar, and the Batalha Monastery, Pinhel Castle, Tibães Monastery, the Church of Senhora das Salvas in Sines, Tibães Monastery in Braga, and the construction of the National Sound Archive in Mafra.
