Network of Public Nurseries in Portugal

Subject: Network of Public Nurseries in Portugal

In Portugal, early childhood is the only age without a network of public child care and the supply of nurseries is essentially always private. According to Social Charter data, 8 out of 10 children living in Portugal are unable to find a place in a nursery.

In addition to the difficulty in finding a place, many parents living in Portugal, particularly in large urban centres, cannot afford to send their children to private nurseries or child care, or do so at great personal sacrifice.

The absence of a family network that can take care of children means that many parents choose to stop working to care for their children. It is mainly mothers who do so, and this has an impact on their working life, but also on their emancipation and the financial stability of the household concerned.

Children and families in Portugal urgently need a strong network of public nurseries, or equivalent solutions, covering the whole of the country.

In the light of the above, will the Commission say what funds, programmes or instruments provided for in both the current and future MFF could be mobilised to support the construction of this much needed network?

Will the Commission also say whether it will exclude this type of investment from the deficit criteria?

Answer given by Ms Ferreira on behalf of the European Commission

(23 April 2020)

Under the 2014-2020 programming period, the Partnership Agreement covering support from the European Structural and Investment Funds in Portugal envisages support for a better work/life balance, in particular in relation to early childhood.

This support is implemented through the Portuguese regional programmes, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under the investment priority 9a (1) of thematic objective 9 ‘Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and discrimination’. Under this investment priority, the regional programmes may finance social equipment such as public nurseries according to the conditions and needs described in such programmes (2).

With regard to the future support to public childcare in the 2021-2027 programming period, the Commission has identified for Portugal priority investments in order to promote an equal access and better work/life balance, including access to affordable, sustainable and high-quality care services such as childcare and out-of-school care (3). The actual way to carry out these priority investments will be discussed and agreed between the Commission and the Portuguese authorities, in principle, by the end of 2020.

The EU fiscal rules foresee the possibility for Member States in the preventive arm of the Pact to deviate temporarily from the fiscal adjustment path to accommodate investments, under certain conditions (4). On 5 February 2020, the Commission presented its review of the economic governance framework and launched a public debate with the aim of collecting feedback within the first half of 2020. The Commission will consider all views and on that basis complete its reflections on the scope for any possible future steps by the end of 2020.

⋅1∙ Investment priority 9a ‘Investing in health and social infrastructure which contributes to national, regional and local development, reducing inequalities in terms of

health status, promoting social inclusion through improved access to social, cultural and recreational services and the transition from institutional to community- based services’

⋅2∙ To see the projects financed by the ERDF already approved that support nurseries, please consult the list of operations available at

https://www.portugal2020.pt/content/lista-de-operacoes-aprovadas ⋅3∙

Annex D in SWD(2019) 1021 final, 27.2.2019

⋅4∙ See the Commonly agreed position on flexibility within Stability and Growth Pact of 12 February 2016.