Digitization and ‘green’ jobs: Brussels praises progress in Portugal

Nthe annual report released today on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), the instrument that finances the RRPs, the European Commission refers Portugal among countries (together with France, Greece and Spain) where there have been “measurable progress” in labour market reforms in relation to its main social and labour objectives.

According to the institution, the reform of work on digital platforms in Portugal “appears to have improved social protection and working conditions”, although its effects on employment and the economy cannot yet be measured due to the “limited availability of post-reform data”.

In the digitisation of public administration, an analysis of reforms carried out in Portugal (and also Cyprus, Germany, Slovenia and Spain) concluded that these “helped to simplify procedures, improve accessibility and increase the quality of services, although the degree of implementation and size of impacts vary between countries”.

According to the report, the national authorities reported “a lower administrative burden, shorter processing times, reduced costs for users and improved digital access”.

Portugal is also among the countries where “progress has been made in the measures related to ‘green’ skills and jobs, alongside Denmark, as seven additional milestones and targets have been met over the past year in this area.

In the EU as a whole, the European Commission considers that the reforms and investments supported by the RRM are producing concrete results, “enhancing European competitiveness and resilience”.

The report estimates that each euro invested in digital measures supported by the mechanism should generate EUR 1.50 of economic production in the EU.

Since the creation of the MRR in 2021, the Commission has already disbursed EUR 450 billion, corresponding to 79% of the allocation of the mechanism.

The deadline for Member States to complete the milestones and targets ended on 31 August, while final payment applications had to be submitted by 30 September.

Implementation on the ground of the European RRP has come to an end and the European Commission is now assessing the latest payment applications in a process that should continue by the end of the year.

With an envelope of up to EUR 573 billion in grants and loans (at current prices), the MRR was created to strengthen economic resilience, promote sustainable growth and accelerate ecological and digital transitions, with payments conditional on the implementation of agreed reforms and investments.

The Portuguese RRP amounts to EUR 21.9 billion, of which EUR 16.3 billion corresponds to grants and 5.6 billion to loans, an amount equivalent to about 8.2% of Portuguese GDP.

On the website of the community executive, Portugal presents an execution of 75% of the PRR.