Portugal spent, in 2020, a total of 2,558.6 million euros on state aid to support the economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which corresponds to 72.9% of the total public support for that year, for above the European average.
The data is part of a 2021 scoreboard on state aid measures adopted in the European Union (EU) to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, made public this Thursday by the European Commission, which indicates that “In 2020, expenses related to Covid-19 for Portugal amounted to 2,558.6 million euros, that is, 72.9% of total spending on state aid.”
This percentage compares with that of state aid spending related to Covid-19 at the EU 27 level, at 59.3%.
In addition to this percentage of 72.9% allocated by Portugal to “remedy a serious disturbance in the economy”, public support for regional development stands out in the country, equivalent to 14.4% of the total, as well as aid to small Business. medium-sized companies and venture capital (5.1%) and for research and development (3.3%), in a total of 94 state aid measures adopted in 2020.
According to the community executive report, in 2020, the Member States (plus the United Kingdom, which was still considered for these data) granted 384,330 million euros in state aid, of which 227,970 million euros were allocated to the pandemic , to support seriously affected companies.
The conclusion of the European Commission is that these figures reveal “the crucial role of state aid policy in preserving a fair single market, while allowing Member States to support companies in times of acute and unforeseen crisis” .
all in all, between 2010 and 2020, Portugal spent €13.8 billion on state aidthe institution says.
In March 2020, due to the effects of the pandemic on the economy, the European Commission adopted a temporary framework to facilitate state aid, an initiative that expanded the support that Member States can give to their economies, normally prohibited by the rules of competence of the EU, which translate into state-guaranteed loans, donations, among others.
Source: Observadora
