The PS warned on Tuesday of the “poor execution” of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) by the regional government, which “commits investments in housing, health, professional qualification and recapitalization” of companies, asking the executive for detailed information.
In a request submitted to the Azorean parliament, the vice-president of the PS parliamentary group, Andreia Cardoso, asks the regional government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) for “detailed information on the percentage of execution of the milestones and objectives by June 30” of 2024, “disaggregated by island” and a schedule of approved projects, within the scope of the PRR.
“Looking at the PRR/Açores website, we know that by 31 December 2023, the Azores had already received around 141 million euros under the PRR and that, in 2024, the region had already received approximately 7.3 million euros. Here alone we received around 148 million euros, which represents only around 20% of the PRR-Açores, which constitutes a support from the European Union of 725 million euros,” the socialist said in a statement.
Andreia Cardoso defends “more transparency” on the part of the regional government, stating that The information that exists is “dispersed and incomplete”, with “methodologies that make it difficult to compare with the national reality”.
Andreia Cardoso also states that, according to the Regional Accounts for 2023 and earlier, by the end of 2023, the Azores had “executed PRR expenditure of approximately 92 million euros”, i.e. “only about 13% of the total”.
For the deputy, this figure is “significantly below expectations.”
“There is no strong evidence that the regional government has accelerated this implementation,” he said.
On the other hand, the socialist parliamentarian recalls the various “opinions and warnings of the Economic and Social Council of the Azores (CESA)”, which have requested from the regional government “data on the execution of milestones and objectives in their financial execution reports”, specifically, on “expenditures incurred by the region”, information that is currently only “available annually in the Account of the Region”.
The socialist deputy stressed that “the PRR is a unique and exceptional opportunity to strengthen the economy of the Azores, boost its growth and promote the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the archipelago.”
“The PRR, an important support from the European Union, provides the region with around 725 million euros to be implemented by 2026. Wasting this opportunity will be a gigantic historical failure for the Azores. And this regional government does not seem to be very concerned about this, which naturally aggravates the concerns of the Socialist Party,” says the vice-president of the PS parliamentary group in the Azores.
Source: Observadora
