The European Commission defended this Friday a “rapid implementation” of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (PRR), after the Portuguese proposal to make the investment deadlines more flexible, pointing out that changing the calendars would imply changing the regulations and obtaining unanimous approval.
In a written response sent to the Lusa agency, an official source from the European Commission confirms receipt of the letter sent by the Prime Minister, António Costa, to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with the Portuguese priorities for the institution’s work program until 2023, which then a more flexible investment schedule is suggested under the PRP.
Ensuring the rapid implementation of the PRR is crucial for all Member States”, reacts the community executive in the written response sent to Lusa.
Recalling that current regulations provide for a “clear for the use of resources until 2027and that “in 2026 the term for the Commission’s indebtedness capacity ends”, the same source from the community executive points out that “any change” would imply changes in the regulations, such as that of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR).
In addition, the European Commission recalls that “any change in the decision on own resources would require unanimity in the Council and entry into force only after approval by each member state, in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, including, in almost all cases, ratification by national parliaments.”
The MRR regulation establishes that the measures provided for in the PRR of each country are carried out between February 1, 2020 and December 31, 2026, milestones and goals must be achieved in August 2026 so that the payment is made at the end of the year. of this year.
Even so, the same official source tells Lusa that “the Commission is willing to discuss with the Member States the implementation of milestones or individual objectives that may no longer be achievable and that need to be reviewed”, and is still “willing to collaborate with Member States to assess such applications, based on the content of the specific investment objectives and the evidence provided”.
The Government sent a document to Brussels that “outlines national priorities” to the European Commission in 2023 and proposed to ease the deadlines for completing PRR investments for after 2026, was published today.
Without modifying the schedule set for the reforms provided for in the PRR, nor the respective milestones and goals, the investment execution schedule must be made more flexible, both in terms of its pace of implementation and the respective compliance deadline, a document published today in the Government Portal.
The proposal was made in a letter sent on August 12 by the prime minister, António Costa, to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which it is proposed that the investments be financed by PRR (not reforms) “may end beyond 2026“.
It is a change that is imposed due to unexpected economic circumstances that were not foreseen at the time of the approval of the MRR regulations”, justifies the Government, highlighting the current “very anomalous economic situation, characterized by high inflation, by the persistent disruption of supply chains and scarcity or scarcity of raw materials.
Previously, in the middle of this year, the Government reported that the European Commission responded favorably to the request of Portugal and other Member States to reschedule PRR’s investment programs in view of “abnormally high” prices, without changing the calendar. . .
At stake is the Recovery and Resilience Facility, valued at €672.5bn (in 2018 prices) and a core element of “NextGenerationEU”, the €750bn fund approved by European leaders in July 2020 for economic recovery of the EU from the crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
The Portuguese PRR includes investments and reforms in 20 thematic componentswith €13.9 billion in grants and €2.7 billion in loans.
Source: Observadora
