EU: green light from the European Commission for the Portuguese recovery plan

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on June 15, 2021 in Brussels.

REUTERS - POOL

Text by: Marie-Line Darcy

4 min

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission is going to Portugal then to Spain on June 16 to validate the first national recovery plans financed by a common loan.

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From our correspondent in Lisbon

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Portugal is one of the five countries whose national stimulus program has been approved.

And the President of the Commission is traveling to Lisbon to formalize her green light.

Lisbon, which chairs the Council of Europe, was the first country to table its recovery and resilience plan following the coronavirus epidemic.

The Commission started issuing bonds to finance itself and then finance the plans.

At this stage, some 80 billion euros are at stake.

Ecofin, the exceptional Economic Affairs Council of June 18, should set the financial framework, then the European Council will have up to 4 weeks to conclude the process for the 27 member states.

There is of course a strong symbolic stake for Portugal which is committed to having the programs adopted by the end of the month, at the end of its presidency.

A race against time

In addition to the symbol of successfully setting up the famous European “bazooka” during his presidency, the stakes are very important economically for the country. Portugal must benefit from an envelope of more than 16 billion euros, including nearly 14 billion euros full-blown. Prime Minister Antonio Costa has repeatedly stated that he expects the first envelopes to be ready by the end of August. There is an urgent need to inject funds into the economy. The first quarter of 2021 shows a decline of 5.4% of the country's wealth GDP, compared to the same period of 2020. A first quarter marked by a more than difficult health situation and severe confinement. The end of the moratoriums, that is to say the postponements of bank loans during the pandemic, as to weigh on the household economy.The country's debt is climbing and this early June does not seem to indicate a trend reversal.

Towards a resumption of tourist activity

The British are largely responsible for this.

Authorized to travel, they began to spend holidays in the south of Portugal, the only European country on the United Kingdom's green list.

But Boris Johnson has called his fellow citizens home by brandishing the threat of quarantine on their return home.

The British Prime Minister has finally decided to postpone deconfinement in his country.

A hard blow for the Algarve in the south, the island of Madeira in the Atlantic and even Lisbon and Porto.

Portugal is becoming aware of its dependence on tourism and Anglo-Saxon tourism in particular.

He decided to invest 6 billion euros in this fundamental sector for the country.

And launched a promotional campaign intended to capture other markets.

But the tourist season will be gloomy anyway.

In September, European Union money will be more welcome than ever.

► See also: EU: national recovery plans presented to the European Commission

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  • Portugal

  • European Union

  • Finance

  • Ursula von der Leyen

  • Coronavirus