The Operational Programme for the Economic and Social Development of the Azores (PRODESA) was formally closed in Angra on Thursday with the presentation and approval of the Final Implementation Report drafted by the Monitoring Commission, chaired by the Regional Directorate for the Planning and Structural Funds.

The meeting marks the closing of the III Community Support Framework in the Azores and was attended by a delegation from the European Commission and another from the Government of the Republic.

Speaking to journalists, the Regional Director for the Planning and Structural Funds said that the PRODESA programme was very important to the Azores, mobilising EU support funds, the amount being of nearly 911 million Euros, which enabled a total investment of 1.3 billion Euros.

Rui Amann stressed that the programme was reinforced by the European Union due to the good performance regarding its implementation in the Azores, which ensured the allocation of funds substantially higher than the initially expected.

The PRODESA programme was approved by the European Commission on 28 July, 2000 with an initial allocation of structural funds of 854,441 million Euros, which were divided into the four structural funds – the ERDF (infrastructures and promotion of private investment), the ESF (professional training, promotion of employment and social inclusion), the EAGGF-O (development of agriculture and rural areas) and the FIFG (development of fisheries).

The total amount of the estimated structural funds reached 911.6 million Euros (with the additional allocation of 57.2 million Euros), divided by the ERDF with 626.1 million Euros (32.3 million was the original allocation), the ESF with 116.2 million Euros (another 18 million Euros), EAGGF-O with t 139.2 million Euros (another 5.6 million Euros) and by the FIFG, with 30.0 million Euros (or 1.1 million Euros).

This operational programme has always met the financial rule designated as n +2, or the guillotine effect, as it is also known, which demonstrates that there was no financial penalty on any of the four Structural Funds due to significant delays (more than 2 years) in the scheduled implementation.

Regional and local roads, ports and airports, school buildings, environmental qualification and sanitation, promotion of tourism, science, technology and innovation, electricity producing from renewable sources, modernisation of the slaughter network, roads and rural electrification, construction of fishing vessels, professional, training, modernisation of small and medium-sized companies, processing and marketing agricultural and fisheries products, manufacturing, trade and services were among the economic and social sectors that were covered by the financial support from the Structural Funds of the PRODESA programme.

The Government of the Azores, the Local Councils, the private and public business sector, several public and private entities and institutions have benefited from the EU support, in a total of 8 800 projects approved under the PRODESA measures: 1394 projects under the ERDF, 5759 under the EAGGF-O, 678 under the ESF and 988 under the FIFG.