PM wants to ‘accelerate’ government programme using EU funds

Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, speaking as secretary-general of the governing Socialist Party (PS), has said it may now be possible to accelerate the implementation of the government’s existing programme with the help of funds from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Fund, after its approval last week in Brussels.

Speaking at an event in Lisbon on Sunday to close the 22nd congress of the Socialist Youth (JS), Costa praised the EU’s rapid response to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which he and others have referred to as a “bazooka”.

The EU plans focus on and are anchored in two goals – the digital transition and the climate changeover – which, as the prime minister noted, are fully aligned with the PS government’s strategic priorities for the next four years, as defined before the current crisis.

“The only thing we are going to do is to accelerate the implementation of our government programme and now with more means to implement it, thanks to the solidarity of the European Union and the way it has been responding to this crisis,” he said.

The JS congress, which was held entirely online due to restrictions imposed due to the epidemic, saw Miguel Costa Matos, the youngest member of Portugal’s parliament, elected as the organisation’s secretary-general, succeeding Maria Begonha.