PRR. Order to execute

The Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR) has been readjusted and some works will be the target of other forms of funding. The adjustment has already been approved by Brussels and the government justifies this decision because it is not possible to conclude them before December 31, 2026, at which time the Bazuca execution period ends. At issue are projects worth 1,530 million euros. The Picision Dam in the Portalegre District (222 million euros), the Algarve desalinizer in Albufeira (108 million) and the Pomarão Water Taking (101 million) also in the Algarve are some of these cases that pass to Portugal 2030. There are other projects that will be funded by the state budget.

At the sunrise, the chairman of the PRR National Follow -up Commission, Pedro Dominguinhos lists other projects that have been reprogrammed. This is the case of the acquisition of equipment and construction and rehabilitation of some units and services by the NHS, artificial intelligence projects for the public administration, the acquisition of electric or powered hydrogen buses, financing of energy poverty projects in neighborhoods of the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto and projects in the scope of Évora – European Culture Capital of Culture in 2027.

An adjustment devalued by the government. «We did not change the dimension, but we adapted. PRR is a path we make together and sometimes we have to overcome obstacles without stopping. The calendar is demanding and unchanged. Each little realization is a victory, ”said cohesion minister Castro Almeida.

The Portugal Business Association (AEP) welcomes this change. « In addition to extending the execution period of mobilizing agendas, we have also significant that large companies are positive to be eligible for access to funds to co-finance their investments, namely in the areas of digital, clean technologies and biotechnology, » says President Luís Miguel Ribeiro but, however, is concerned about the delay in the execution of the program.

And it argues that all governance instability factors compete for an obstacle to the degree of execution of PRR. “To these, other factors such as the lack of labor are added in an adverse demographic context. Migratory flows constitute a positive contribution to the sense of lack of labor. In this context, we expect a positive contribution from Via Verde to immigration, ”he says.

It is true that Pedro Dominguinhos recognizes that « the requirement of execution remains very significant », as it is necessary to meet more than 50% of all goals and milestones.

In the middle of the table

Asked which balance, so far, the PRR execution plan, Pedro Dominguinhos throws that this is a program « based on results and not the financial execution of the projects » in which each country receives the funds when it meets the goals and milestones agreed with the European Commission. Thus, it says that several indicators can be used to measure the progress of the program.

One is the requests for refunds with the official to say that our country has already received five and is under consideration the sixth payment request. Here, Portugal has been a good student. «In this indicator, Croatia has also received five reimbursements and only Italy has received more. All other countries received four or less refunds, ”he details.

Another indicator is the percentage of goals and milestones met. According to Pedro Dominguinhos, Portugal fulfilled about 32%, “in the middle of the table of 27 countries. With the approval of the sixth payment request, Portugal exceeds 40% of compliance and will be in Top 7 ».

The percentage of funds received is also followed. In this indicator, our country has so far received 51% of the global amount, ‘being positioned 7th among the 27 countries. With the approval of the 6th payment request, it passes to sixth ».

Looking at these indicators, the committee chairman has no doubt: « Portugal has been able to meet the goals and milestones agreed with the European Commission. »

Risks

The president of the PRR National Follow-up Commission points out, however, to risks that will be related to the ‘material execution of various investments, which lack physical acceleration, so that the goals and milestones are missing can be achieved, also increasing the speed and volume of payments to final beneficiaries’.

Pedro Dominguinhos also says that the proximity scripts made by the National Follow -up Commission, “with hundreds of visits to the final beneficiaries have made it possible to verify the acceleration of the execution of the various investments PRR, with visible results in the various components. And in the coming times, this acceleration will continue and the results will be increasingly visible.

Still, it has identified some difficulties that have been felt « and many that insist on maintaining themselves-namely the slow payments-and which are obstacles to the execution of the PRR », noting that throughout the execution period of the PRR, since 2021, the Ukraine invasion of Russia was assisted, with significant impacts on price and costs, the increase in inflation, as well as disruption of supply chains and delays. For gold side, it admits that « we experienced a heavy bureaucratic and administrative process, despite several legislative changes implemented, but not enough to accelerate, with the intended dimension, these processes. »

The guardian also highlights issues such as the control of double financing, conflict of interest, the central registration of the effective beneficiary or the operationalization of the VAT replacement mechanism that is not yet at a cruise speed that « were slow and implied a heavy administrative burden ».

And it points to a third difficulty that arrests with delays in various processes, « from applications to the analysis of payment requests ». The operationalization of various computer platforms is added that, according to Pedro Dominguinhos, ‘it was slow, demanded and continues to demand constant learning from all interveners and still lacks improvements and tuning’.

Also the scarcity of labor, particularly in the construction sector, said, it would make it difficult to realize various works, but also in qualified sectors.

What to expect

For Luís Miguel Ribeiro the mission of the next government is clear: ‘Perform, execute, execute, in order to avoid any risk of loss of funds allocated to our country and which are fundamental to the co -finance of the Portuguese economy, especially in a very severe and uncertain international context’.

An opinion shared by the chairman of the National Monitoring Commission by arguing that there is a commitment to the execution of the goals and milestones agreed with the European Commission and a focus and priority in the measures related to the PRR, particularly in public administration services. «I am convinced that it will happen, as it was found in the various previous elections. On the other hand, it is also crucial to achieve compromises in Parliament so that the reforms that are missing can be met, ”he concludes.