The Minister of the Presidency says that the 40,000 million euros of Portugal 2030 and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PPR) point to a lasting convergence with the European Union, but with social and territorial cohesion.
Mariana Vieira da Silva, who in the socialist executive assumes the coordination of community funds, will speak this Thursday, at Fundão, at the signing ceremony of the collaboration agreement between the Portuguese Government and the European Commission for the implementation of Portugal 2030.
In statements to the Lusa agency, the “number two” of the executive led by António Costa says that this will be the sixth programming period of the structural funds to which Portugal will access.
When we add these 23,000 million euros from Portugal 2030 with the PRR, we are practically talking about 40,000 million euros, an increase of 76% compared to the previous table. We want to reach a country that grows more, that converges more with the European Union, but in which that growth is shared, both from the point of view of our territory and at a social level”, he underlines.
In the perspective of Mariana Vieira da Silva, the country is facing “an opportunity for structural transformation”, and the two programs, Portugal 2030 and PRR, “were thinking together”.
“The ultimate objective of these two frameworks, which followed the Portugal 2030 Strategy, is to make this period of community funds a significant transformation of the national economy, seeking consolidate these years of convergence before the pandemic [da Covid-19] a more lasting convergence, more sustained and more resistant to periods of crisis, which have become more frequent. At the same time, we want ensure territorial cohesion and social cohesion as fundamental elements of convergence”, he points out.
Both the PRR and Portugal 2030, according to Mariana Vieira da Silva, were organized based on a strategy that, first of all, is aimed at people, presenting “a very important commitment to qualification”.
“We have measures that seek to achieve the objectives that Portugal has committed to in the European pillar of social rights: 80% employment rate, great acceleration in the number of education/training actions that each citizen carries out throughout their life, as well as with an important commitment to inclusion, above all, through responses in the qualification and social support for the most vulnerable groups with the aim of removing 765,000 people from the risk of poverty,” he says.
In this chapter, the Minister of the Presidency highlights the policies related to “active aging, with the training of disadvantaged young people, with a logic of anticipating the skills that employment will need in the future, or with the continuation of equality policies between men and women and the reconciliation of personal, family and professional life.
“The second area is innovation, which, in Portugal 2030, has very significant dimensions, such as the measure agreed in consultation with the social partners in relation to the training licenses of workers. In addition to the incentives for the modernization of companies, there are specific incentives for our companies to meet climate goals, ”he indicates.
Another great dimension of Portugal 2030, according to the Minister of the Presidency, is related to “the dynamics of territorial cohesion, where there is a focus mainly on two dimensions, the first being the railway, not only in infrastructure, but also in rolling material”.
“We want the cohesion of our territory to be also in terms of sustainable transport”, he said.
On the environmental front, Mariana Vieira da Silva highlights that Portugal 2030 foresees measures to “promote decarbonized cities, with urban mobility, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gases by 55%, so that the goal of neutrality is achieved.” of carbon by 2050”.
“For that, we will have to accelerate the commitment to renewable energies,” he adds.
Source: Observadora
