Implementation of cohesion policy in Portugal

Subject: Implementation of cohesion policy in Portugal

According to the January 2022 status report on Portugal 2020, the rate of implementation of the programme for the 2013-2020 period stands at 62%. This means that 38% of the total budget approved for the country, or EUR 11.6 billion, has not yet been used.

The fact that funds are going to waste in a country where public investment is little over half the EU average cannot be attributed solely to the greater or lesser degree of government competence; European cohesion policy’s entirely unsuitable design also plays a role. Centralised objective-setting, the lack of flexibility in the distribution of funds among programmes, the setting of macroeconomic conditions, difficulties in securing co-financing and the complexity of multi-level management (by those executing projects versus beneficiaries) are just some of the issues we can see.

I would like to know:

1. Given that the period for implementing the 2013-2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF) will end in 2023, does the Commission have any information on whether it is likely that the remaining EUR 11.6 billion will be used?

2. What measures is it taking to facilitate implementation of the rest of MFF 2013-2020 and make it easier for funds under the MFF 2021-2027 to be implemented as fully as possible?

3. Is it considering reducing national co-financing rates?

Answer given by Ms Ferreira on behalf of the European Commission

(6 July 2022)

1. According to the latest information (1), 73% of the amounts under the 2014-2020 cohesion policy operational programmes have been executed by end-March 2022.

The Commission is closely following the implementation of the 2014-2020 period in Portugal. Considering the level of commitments of the different Operational Programmes, the Commission expects that the remaining amount will have been totally invested by the end of the programming period.

2. The Commission has already made several legislative proposals to address difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The measures include flexibility for cross-financing, higher co-financing and pre-financing rates, enhanced flexibility for closure and simplified cost options for support for refugees (2). Additional measures are being considered to provide direct and continuous support to Member States facing implementation difficulties.

As far as the period 2021-2027 for Portugal is concerned, the Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the future programmes are under negotiation.

3. Through the Cohesion's Action for Refugees in Europe (CARE) (3), Member States have the possibility to extend the co- financing rate of 100%, previously granted under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) (4), for another year. Moreover, the EUR 50.5 billion top-up from REACT-EU also allows 100% EU financing.

⋅1∙ Boletim Informativo dos Fundos da União Europeia n.º 28 : https://portugal2020.pt/wp-content/uploads/Boletim-31marco2022-vs-final.pdf

⋅2∙ For details, see: Commission notice — Guidelines on the closure of operational programmes adopted for assistance from the European Regional Development Fund,

the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (2014-2020) 2021/C 417/01. ⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1607

⋅4∙ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/coronavirus-response/