Government Submits Final PRR Revision to Brussels
The Portuguese government submitted the final revision of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to Brussels this Friday. In a statement, the Ministry of Economy assured that "all grants planned in the PRR will be fulfilled," though this will not be the case for loans. Projects that were planned but cannot be executed by the August 2026 deadline "will be carried out using other loans with equivalent interest rates." This includes the Lisbon Metro Red Line. At stake are €311 million.
Minister's Earlier Indications
This scenario had already been anticipated by the Minister of Economy, Castro Almeida, earlier this week in parliament. During discussions on the State Budget, he stated that "in some cases, we will forgo EU loans because we have market loans at the same or cheaper interest rates, freeing us from PRR deadlines." This option is now official.
Details of the Revision
The Executive guarantees that with this revision—not as extensive as the one made in February—"all grants planned in the PRR will be fulfilled" and "all PRR grants will be invested." Some targets were increased and others decreased, ensuring the total value remains unchanged.
In the statement released Saturday morning, the ministry added that the revision "allows for reinforcing investments in key areas for the national economy, such as innovation, to boost company competitiveness."
Focus on Innovation and Competitiveness
The government highlighted the Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness (IFIC), created to absorb unused funds from other PRR programs. It "plays a significant role in this dynamic of economic growth and competitive positioning of companies in the global market." This instrument has an initial allocation of €315 million and currently has four open calls.
Simplification and Administrative Adjustments
According to the government, this revision "adjusted deadlines and eliminated administrative obstacles in verifying milestones and targets" to simplify the PRR. In the same vein, "the European Commission will also accept, under applicable rules, the elimination or merging of intermediate milestones or those associated with low-value measures."
In this context, "targets for building new homes were merged with targets for rehabilitating uninhabitable houses," which were previously separate. Also merged were "targets for building palliative care units and continuing care units."
Updated Milestones and Payment Schedule
Thus, the Ministry of Economy concludes, "we now have a total of 196 milestones and targets to present in the 8th Payment Request still this year and in the 9th and 10th Payment Requests to be submitted in 2026."
Castro Almeida also revealed in parliament that in this reprogramming, 10 targets from the 9th payment request were brought forward to the 8th.
Minister's Final Remarks
"The PRR is to be fulfilled, not promised. Portugal now has a simpler, clearer, and more results-oriented PRR," said Castro Almeida in the same statement.
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