The European Commission ensures that the implementation of the Portuguese PRR proceeds “as planned”.

The European Commission claims that the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) in Portugal is “fully on track”, indicating that 38 more milestones and targets are being monitored in order for the country to receive the new payment.

“The implementation of PRR in Portugal has so far been fully on track,” reads a written response from an official source from the community executive at Lusa.

A week after the Community Executive completed the payment of a second “tranche” of €1.8 billion to Portugal to complete 20 milestones and tasks, the European institution tells Lusa that it is “in close contact with the Portuguese authorities for detailed monitoring”. progress made.”

Asked about the forthcoming disbursement, which will be the third for the country (not counting the initial pre-financing), the community leader explains that “38 milestones and goals are related to Portugal’s third grant and loan request” out of a total of 344 milestones and goals agreed between Lisbon and Brussels.

It is up to each Member State to decide when to submit a payment claim, and each country may submit two claims per year.

A source close to the process explained to Lusa that Portugal must first complete a review of the plan with the European Commission, including a chapter on investment in the REPowerEU energy package, before submitting the next request for payment.

Portugal is currently the sixth country in the European Union with the largest amount of funds raised for PRR, around €5.14 billion (€4.07 billion in grants and €1.07 billion in loans), ranking fourth with the most high level of execution with a speed of 17%. , according to the latest data from the European Commission on the implementation of plans at the European level.

So far, Portugal has already received the first two payments of €1.82 billion in February 2023 and €1.16 billion in May 2022, to which are added €2.2 billion of pre-financing in August 2021, amounts that include grants. and loans.

To date, the country has collected 31% of the total funds.

These payments occur after the community leader considers that Portugal has met 52 milestones and six targets associated with its first and second payment requests.

The European Commission assures Lusa that the implementation of the reforms and investments envisaged in the Portuguese PRR is “ongoing and bearing fruit”.

“Payments received by Portugal so far cover, for example, reforms in the management of public hospitals and the digital transition in the private and public sectors,” as well as “large investments in health, social protection or water management.” , cast.

Brussels estimates that Portugal’s PRR will increase GDP by 1.5-2.4% until 2026, which will enhance the positive impact of structural reforms.

In the context of the European Semester, next May the European Commission is expected to publish an update on the real impact of PRR on the Portuguese economy.

The Portuguese PRR has a total allocation of €16.6 billion, with €13.9 billion in grants and €2.7 billion in loans.

In February 2021, the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism came into force in the EU to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also according to data from Brussels sent to Lusa, the European Commission has already given the green light to 446 milestones and targets from 27 Member States, with more than €143 billion already mobilized for countries under the Recovery Mechanism. and sustainability.