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Recalling that the European Recovery Fund allows access to grants (non-reimbursable financing) and loans, António Costa explained that the country has a “very high” public debt. “We have to come out of this crisis stronger, from a social and economic point of view, more modern, greener, but also more solid from a financial point of view,” argued the Prime Minister.
António Costa had already indicated this option, at the end of August, when he said that the country would seek to use “the maximum of subsidies and the minimum of loans.” From the European Fund created specifically to help economies respond to and recover from the crisis caused by the pandemic, Portugal will have access to 15.3 billion euros in grants. In loans it has access to another 15.7 billion euros.
Projects must respect the conditions
In presenting the priorities of the Portuguese Plan, the Prime Minister explained that projects must meet certain conditions to be eligible. First, they must help the country comply with the recommendations that are addressed to it in the European semester, and must be aligned with European priorities.
So, the projects must be viable by 2026. For example, the investment that the country wants to make in the railway between Lisbon and Porto, or in international connections, or even investments with greater mobility, such as metro lines, are not eligible for this. financing.
Finally, it will be necessary to establish alliances, calls the Prime Minister, stressing that otherwise it will not be possible to complete everything by 2026.
Resilience, climate transition and digital transition
Moving on to the presentation of the priorities of the draft Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Prime Minister highlighted its three main areas: resilience, climate transition and digital transition.
In the resilience chapter, the Government is committed to combating social vulnerabilities, promoting productive potential and competitiveness and territorial cohesion. Measures will be taken here to combat poverty and resolve “areas of social fracture,” that is, on the periphery of the country’s largest cities, Costa promised.
To promote the country’s productive potential, Costa highlights “two crucial investments”: strengthening qualifications and investing in innovation. It promises the modernization of vocational training and the strengthening of higher education in the areas of engineering, science and mathematics.
One of the ideas in this chapter will be to select some mobilizing agendas for the reindustrialization of the country (between four and six projects), which will put knowledge production centers in contact with companies and municipalities.
In the chapter on climate transition, Costa highlighted the need for the country to “enter the railway cluster” and accelerate the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings. It will be necessary to decarbonise the industry and accelerate the installation of the national bio-waste collection network.
In the digital transition, the digitization of the school stands out, which is “absolutely critical”, with the installation of equipment, reinforcement of the skills of human resources and adaptation of the contents. Within companies, investments are promised to empower small and medium-sized enterprises and the formation of assets. The goal is to empower people to “command the robots that will occupy their work,” she defended.
In public administrations, on the other hand, the digital transition means “that the State invests to better serve the citizen,” says Costa. One of the fundamental projects is to create a portal where all public services are accessible. “It is not just about making a website, it is about ensuring interoperability in all public services,” explained the prime minister, noting that for this it will be necessary to invest in human capital and in the rejuvenation of public administration, in addition to their own information systems.
Costa explained that there are three specific dimensions of investment in the digitization of public administrations: health, social security and justice.
(News update at 11:43 with more information)
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