Azores guarantee increase of Community funds through efficiency reserve and full implementation of Community framework
The Vice-President of the Government presented today the implementation rates of the Azores 2020 Operational Programme until the third quarter of this year, noting that the existence of “very positive facts.”
At the meeting of the Azores 2020 OP Monitoring Committee, Sérgio Ávila presented the results of the operational implementation of this programme “not only in financial terms, but also with a view to achieving the specific targets set for the programme."
The Government has opened 185 calls for applications that provided more than 1,200 million Euros of EU funds. A total of 1,661 applications have already been approved, representing an overall eligible investment of 1,400 million Euros, and the implementation of investments, both private and public, amounting to 772 million Euros has already been validated. Since the implementation of this operational programme, 588 million Euros of EU funds have been paid and injected into the Azorean economy, namely reimbursements and anticipated payments to its final beneficiaries," said Sérgio Ávila.
Regarding the national context, the Vice-President added that "the actual implementation rate, i.e. the expenditure incurred and paid under this programme, already represents 52% of the total programme. It is 30% higher than the average rate for all the country's operational programmes, standing at 40%."
From another perspective, according to Sérgio Ávila, "the implementation rate of the Azores 2020 OP is exactly twice the average rate for all regional programmes in Mainland Portugal, which is at 26%."
"Therefore, the implementation rate of the Azores 2020 Operational Programme eliminates, with a very wide margin of safety, any risk of loss of EU funds due to implementation delays," said the government official.
The Vice-President added that "the implementation rate, combined with the achievement of the physical targets set, has allowed not only to fully maintain EU funds, but also to include a previously retained amount. It corresponds to the performance reserve that accounts for 6% of the amount of EU funds in all programmes, which has already been released due to the Region's performance."
"In this context, it is important to stress that the implementation rate registered by the Azores is significantly higher than the national average. The Azores have already ensured that they will make full use of EU funds under the Azores 2020 OP," stressed the government official.
According to Sérgio Ávila, no cuts have been made so far, and we have managed to "include the 6% of the performance reserve, seeing that the programme's physical and financial targets have been fully met. Hence, the Azores have assured that these funds would be fully absorbed, without any loss of the EU funds provided for under the current Community Support Framework."
The meeting of the OP Azores 2020 Monitoring Committee was attended by the programme's management structure as well as by social partners, representatives of the public administration and the association of municipalities. Moreover, it involved the participation of members of the European Commission and the national authorities responsible for monitoring and managing the programme.