The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he wanted to ensure a maximum period of 60 days to respond to applications for European funds by the end of the year, arguing that it was “better to say no than to wait forever for yes”. .
This Tuesday, Luís Montenegro presided over the signing of contracts for the financing of the construction and rehabilitation of schools with 12 municipalities of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and once again criticized the previous government regarding European funds, both in terms of the Recovery Plan and the sustainability requirements of Portugal. 2030, where he said the level of enforcement was “virtually zero” and “significantly lacking a regulatory component.”
“Without regulations there can be no tenders, and without tenders there can be no work on the ground. Our order is to speed up everything that can be speeded up so that we have the ability to respond to services,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister, the leader he heads also discovered “some inability of the services to respond to received requests.”
After leaving the ceremony, Luis Montenegro refused, as the day before, to answer questions from the media asking him about the dismissal of the national director of the PSP, which was announced on Monday evening.
“We intend to make up for lost time and by the end of the year have a maximum period of 60 days to respond to all applications submitted. It is better to say “no” than to wait forever for “yes,” he decreed.
According to Montenegro, it is this principle that the government wants to implement, “so that the administration can react quickly and public or private investors can know what they can count on.”
As an example, he explained that the signing of the agreements signed today took place “in record time”, since the competition ended on April 30.
“This is the first investment package of 125 million euros within the framework of the Regional Commission for the Coordination and Development of the Lisbon and Tagus Valley, there are 14 projects that are on a much larger scale, a package of 53 [candidaturas] and much larger investments – about 500 million euros,” he said.
The Prime Minister has pledged to try to “find funding” for the 39 applications that were not accepted under the RDP.
“The Deputy Minister is already at an advanced stage of review so that we can get financial arrangements in government to ensure full funding to meet all these applications,” he said, acknowledging it was a “huge effort” to justify the value of the school.
The Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PRR) allocates 450 million euros to the school rehabilitation program worldwide, of which 125 million is allocated to the Lisbon region and Tagus Valley.
The 12 municipalities covered by the signing of today’s agreements, the 14 approved applications of which will be financed 100% by the PRR, are Tomar, Vila Franca de Xira, Loures, Chamusca, Barreiro, Alcobaça, Alcanena, Amadora, Cascais, Ferreira do Zezere, Oeiras and Mafra.
On the government side, in addition to the Prime Minister, there were also Deputy Minister and Minister of Territorial Unity Manuel Castro Almeida, responsible for the management of European funds, and Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development Helder Reis. present, and Education Deputy Alexander Homem Christo.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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