Brussels, 30/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 30 July, the European Commission adopted a partnership agreement with Portugal, which defines the strategy to be implemented to make the best possible use of the money under the European structural and investment funds throughout the country.
This agreement paves the way for investments in the country to the tune of €21.46 billion in total - at current prices, including the funding under European territorial cooperation and the youth employment initiative - under cohesion policy for the period 2014-2020. Portugal will also benefit from a grant of €4.06 billion for rural development and an envelope of €392 million for the maritime and fisheries sector.
These EU investments will help to fight unemployment, stimulate competitiveness and promote economic growth whilst supporting innovation, education and training, in towns and cities of all sizes and rural areas. They will also help to promote entrepreneurship and fight social exclusion, whilst helping to set in place an environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient economy.
The European structural and investment funds (ESI) are made up of: the European regional development fund (ERDF), the European social fund (ESF), the cohesion fund, the European maritime and fisheries fund (EMFF) and the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD).
President José Manuel Barroso and Commissioner Johannes Hahn attended a meeting in Lisbon, with the prime minister and other members of the Portuguese government, to mark the launch of the partnership agreement.
Portugal will receive €7.5 billion under the ESF to counter the social consequences of the economic crisis and support a job-rich recovery. The ESF will also help Portugal to implement the youth guarantee (€160 million under the youth employment initiative). Portugal is the 10th member state to receive this approval. The Commission has approved partnership agreements with Germany (22 May), Cyprus (20 June), Greece (23 May), Poland (23 May), Denmark (5 May), the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, 20 June) and Slovenia (20 June). (LC)