The European Commission this Wednesday allocated Portugal the second tranche of €1.8 billion of the Resilience and Recovery Plan (PRR), Brussels said in a statement.
According to the leader of the community, “today’s payment [quarta-feira] 1.8 billion euros was made possible thanks to the implementation by Portugal of twenty milestones and tasks related to the second tranche.”
Disbursements include €1.7 billion in grants and €109 million in loans, excluding pre-financing.
The funding request submitted by Portugal under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), the main instrument underpinning NextGenerationEU, concerns “reforms in public hospital management and the digital transition in the public and private sectors,” highlights Brussels, noting that “several milestones and goals also relate to significant investments in health, social protection, forestry, water management, innovation, sustainable mobility, digital skills, culture, public finance and public administration.”
On September 30, Portugal submitted a second request for the payment of 1.8 billion euros under the MRR, covering twenty stages and goals.
The Portuguese PRR will be funded in total with €15.5bn in grants and €2.7bn in loans, with €2.2bn in pre-financing already committed in August 2021, followed by the first tranche in within the MRR in the amount of €. 1.16 billion in May 2022.
On December 16, 2022, the European Commission accepted a preliminary positive assessment of the payment request submitted by Portugal, giving final approval this Wednesday following a positive opinion from the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council of the European Union (EU).
The MRR is an interim recovery tool that allows the European Commission to mobilize funds to help Member States implement reforms and investments in line with EU priorities and address issues identified in the country-specific recommendations as part of the European Semester economic and social policy coordination.
To this end, 723.8 billion euros (at current prices) are provided in the form of loans (385.8 billion euros) and grants (338 billion euros).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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