On August 31, the execution period of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) formally ended, an extraordinary investment and reform programme created by the European Union to respond to the greatest economic crisis since World War II, following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Five years after the programme began, the most important evaluation is now beginning: understanding whether Portugal took this unique opportunity to structurally transform its economy or whether it merely focused on executing yet another European funding programme. The PRR represented the largest concentration of EU funding in such a short period, running in parallel with Portugal 2030.
The Minister of the Economy and Territorial Cohesion announced, with satisfaction, that the country managed to conclude the PRR without losing European funds, which at first glance constitutes a positive result. However, the article suggests that this conclusion without financial losses is only the initial evaluation and that the true success of the programme will depend on whether it generated lasting economic growth.
