The minister of the Economy and Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, stated that he is "eager" to provide clarifications in parliament on the execution of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), after the Socialist Party (PS) urgently requested a parliamentary hearing on the effective state of financial, material, and operational execution of the plan. The minister indicated that he has not yet formally received the request but expressed interest in appearing as quickly as possible.
The PS argues that it is necessary to distinguish between compliance with the PRR's milestones and targets, a condition for European Commission disbursements, and the financial, material, and operational execution of investments. The party questions the minister's declaration that "the PRR is fully completed," considering that the effective execution may not be finalized.
The minister defended that Portugal will use 100% of the available European Union subsidies, explaining that the government contracted projects corresponding to "101% of the PRR," above the commitments with Brussels. Regarding the schools and health centers still under construction, Castro Almeida pointed out that the commitment was to build 87 schools, but 102 were contracted, with the 87 mandatory ones completed.
The minister, who was speaking in Sines on the sidelines of the ceremony for the delivery of the Industrial Operating Title for the Alba project factories of Repsol, also mentioned that the tenth payment request will only be prepared in September and that the assessment of projects funded by the State Budget will only be completed during that month. Regarding housing, the minister stated that more than 31,000 houses have already been built, surpassing the target of 26,000 set in the PRR.
