Portugal today submitted the seventh payment request of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to the European Commission, maintaining the schedule agreed with Brussels, according to a statement from the Ministry of Economy and Cohesion.
This request encompasses milestones and targets connected to 21 investments and five reforms in areas such as health, housing, social responses, capitalization, and business innovation.
These reforms are also related to qualifications and skills, infrastructure, forests, hydrogen, renewables, the sea, energy independence and ecological transition, public finance sustainability, digital schooling, and more efficient public administration.
With the submission of the 27 milestones and targets of this seventh payment request, the execution rate of the PRR, set to conclude by mid-2026, rises to 47%.
“The government remains committed to ensuring the efficient and rigorous implementation of the PRR, upholding the commitment to both results and deadlines. The aim now is to meet the remaining 234 milestones and targets in a demanding but achievable path,” stated the Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Castro Almeida, as quoted in the statement.
On April 11, the minister assured that the PRR is no longer delayed and spoke of a “demanding path” for governments and especially for public administration.
“There is no longer a delay in the PRR. We are on time with the PRR, and at this stage, we are even somewhat ahead,” said Castro Almeida at an event organized by the Recuperar Portugal Mission Structure in Lisbon, created to negotiate and monitor the PRR’s execution.
The minister noted that the path so far has been “demanding” for governments and “extremely demanding” for the Public Administration.
Castro Almeida warned that the initial requests required meeting a smaller number of milestones and targets, emphasizing that the last two requests are extremely demanding.
“If I say with some calm that we have already recovered the delay, we must recognize that the work ahead is as much as what has been done so far. We have a huge amount of work to do. Therefore, it will be necessary to strengthen the dedication of the workers devoted to this cause,” he pointed out at the time.
The PRR, which runs until 2026, aims to implement a set of reforms and investments to recover economic growth.
Besides aiming to repair the damage caused by COVID-19, this plan intends to support investments and generate employment.
[Updated at 5:54 PM]
