12 Mobilizing Programs Approved to Portugal 2030

On December 15, 2020, 12 Portugal 2030 Programs were approved that will mobilize, over this decade, a total of 23 billion euros for projects aimed at the development of the country, a development based on companies and the economy, people, sustainability and territory.

This action marks the culmination of a long process that started in the second half of 2021, after the publication of the European regulations, with the negotiation of the Portugal 2030 Partnership Agreement.

For the 12 Programs to be in place, it is now important to conclude the national framework legislation.

The conclusion of this process will be essential for the organization of the entire ecosystem of the European Funds and will be followed, until the end of the 1st quarter of 2023, by the approval of the general rules for the application of the Programmes, the appointment of the respective teams management, as well as the definition of specific regulations and the preparation of selection criteria for the types of action to be supported, which will make it possible to launch the first notices for submission of applications.

Until the Portugal 2030 Programs are fully operational, in addition to the Extraordinary Anticipation Mechanism, which made it possible to support some of the measures to be financed by Portugal 2030, the country has to carry out the investments supported by the previous programming cycle, with a view to ensuring a closure success of Portugal 2020.

PORTUGAL 2030 PROGRAMS

• Four Thematic Programs:

• The Innovation and Digital Transition Programme: with a total of 3.9 billion euros financed by the ERDF and ESF+, it is aimed at the less developed regions of the continent and the Autonomous Regions and aims to support innovation and competitiveness, energy transition and competences for competitiveness.
• The Demography, Qualifications and Inclusion Programme: has an endowment of around 5.7 billion euros financed by the ESF+ and is aimed at the less developed regions of the Mainland, although some of its measures cover the regions of Lisbon and the Algarve.
• The Program for Climate Action and Sustainability: has 3.1 billion euros financed by the Cohesion Fund and is national in scope. It aims to respond to the challenges arising from sustainability and climate transition, with a special focus on the decarbonization of the various sectors of the economy, making a strong contribution to meeting the national objective of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.
• The sea program: has 393 million euros financed by FEAMPA for the entire national territory, with the aim of supporting investments in fisheries sustainability, energy efficiency and decarbonisation, biodiversity, valuing fishery products and local development, contributing to the Portugal + Green Objective and, to a lesser extent, the Portugal + Next Objective.

• Seven Regional Programs:

• The North, Centre, Alentejo, Azores and Madeira (less developed regions), Algarve (transition region) and Lisbon (developed region). Financed by the ERDF and ESF+, these programs are particularly focused on territorial policies, reinforced by the ongoing decentralization process on the Continent, and contribute to most of the Strategic Objectives, in particular to the Portugal + Next, Portugal + Verde and Portugal + Competitive Objectives. They amount to 9.7 billion euros distributed as follows: North 3.4 billion euros; Center €2.2 billion; Alentejo and Azores both with around 1.1 billion euros; Algarve 780 million euros; Madeira 760 million euros and Lisbon 381 million euros. The North, Center and Alentejo programs include the allocation of the Just Transition Fund (60, 65 and 99 million euros, respectively), intended to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the transition to carbon neutrality resulting from the closure of the Matosinhos refinery (Norte), Pego thermoelectric power plant (Centro) and Sines thermoelectric power plant (Alentejo).
• Technical Assistance Programme: with an allocation of 168 million euros financed by the ERDF, it has a national scope to support the implementation of actions by the entities involved in the coordination and management of the funds.

Added to these are the European Territorial Cooperation programs in which Portugal participates in partnership with the other Member States.

In a total of around 23 billion euros, these programs will implement the five Portugal 2030 Funds until 2029: 11.5 billion euros from the ERDF; €7.8 billion of ESF+; 3.1 billion euros from the Cohesion Fund; 224 million euros from the Fair Transition Fund and 393 million euros from FEAMPA.