Portugal will not lose a single euro of the grants from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), totaling 21.9 billion euros. The Minister of Economy and Cohesion has repeated this guarantee, but several measures were needed to accelerate execution, including the removal of projects that would not be completed in time, the transfer of investments to the loan category, and the simplification of targets and milestones to be met.
One of the most emblematic measures was the exemption from prior audit by the Court of Auditors for contracts intended for the execution of projects financed by European funds, including those integrated in the PRR. Since mid-December, the audit has been carried out simultaneously with project execution, allowing projects to move forward without waiting for the Court of Auditors' decision. This measure was approved in Parliament with the abstention of the Socialist Party, which when in government attempted an identical measure but failed to get it approved by the Social Democratic Party.
Other changes included the possibility of lifting the suspension of effectiveness of precautionary measures to accelerate investment in public housing, the exemption from mandatory project reviews, the opening of special credits, and the transition of management balances exclusively financed by PRR loans. It was also possible to resort to arbitration in public works contracts or supply of goods and services financed by European funds.
The Recover Portugal mission structure saw its staff limit reinforced from 75 to 137 members, including a mobile team of 50 people to allocate to beneficiary services. The Financial Investment for Innovation and Competitiveness (IFIC) was also created, operationalized by the Development Bank, which allows executing PRR funds beyond the deadline, provided the contract with companies is signed by the defined milestone. This solution was also applied to investments in hydrogen and renewable gases, totaling approximately 415 million euros, with projects able to be executed until 2028/29.
