The municipalities will continue to claim 156 million euros in COVID-19 costs.

The president of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) suggested this Thursday that she would continue to demand €156 million in repayments to municipalities for covid-19 costs after the government said it could not do so.

“ANMP will not fail to support this protection, we have a constant negotiation process. We understand that even after the approval of the state budget, there will be conditions for taking care of these expenses, including through the resources of non-state funds, so we will continue to support the proposal to settle this amount,” said Luisa Salgueiro at a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic after the interrogation of PKP MP Paula Santos.

In total, the municipalities are demanding 156 million euros from the government as the total costs they have incurred to combat covid-19, according to an estimate by the Court of Accounts, an amount that is not included in the state budget for 2023. (OE2023) as expected.

“Now we are not in a position to respond to this demand from the ANMP. The only discovery that we have and that we have already transferred was within the framework of the support provided by the European Union Solidarity Fund. [que representa um total de 60 milhões de euros]” said Territorial Unity Minister Ana Abruñosa, who oversees the municipalities, in an interview with Lusa published this Thursday.

In a joint hearing in the Committees on Budget and Finance and Public Administration, Spatial Planning and Local Authorities, which took place this morning, Left Bloc (BE) MP José Soeiro said the government’s argument was “not reasonable”, citing that ” there would be no shortage of where to find resources to reimburse municipalities.

In response, Luisa Salgueiro emphasized that the minister had said that it was not possible to fully support these accusations through the European Union Solidarity Fund.

“There are several funding sources that the Government can turn to to support this amount, although it may not be in full. We will continue negotiations with the Government, because if not in this way – because to pay through the fund – anyway, it is not for us to look for a source of financing,” he said.

The president of the ANMP, who also heads the city council of Matosinhos in the Porto region, noted that this demand by the municipalities is “fair” and will therefore continue.

PSD MP Joao Prata praised the “spirit of sacrifice” of the municipalities in “not recognizing the main mistake” made by the national executive, noting that the “little money” that the municipalities received came from a European fund, not from the government. .

In addition to covid-19 reimbursement, the ANMP has advocated, among other things, lowering the value added tax (VAT) on school meals and energy, deeming it “fair” to apply a minimum rate of this tax.

On the sidelines of the hearing, Luisa Salgueiro told Luce that she expects deputies to submit proposals that amend the government’s proposal for the state budget and that run counter to the proposals of the municipalities, recalling that all pending ANMP demands have now been accepted by the Assembly. Republic.

“The government has already submitted its document, and the ANMP has already given its assessment. Today we have come to Parliament, and now it is up to the parliamentary groups to propose amendments to the State Budget so that it can enter into force. and that the document to be approved provides for these changes,” he concluded.