Urban regeneration led the way in attracting European funds in the North through the municipal sphere, accounting for 20.4% of the total €1.6bn of funds approved through June, according to a report released
According to the Norte UE report - Dynamics of European Funds in the Norte Region, released today by the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), urban regeneration captured 20.4% of the funds approved in the region by municipal entities.
This is followed by education infrastructures (15.2%), sustainable urban mobility projects (13.6%), the urban water cycle (11.6%), endogenous potential related to social inclusion and employment (4.8%) and energy efficiency in public infrastructures (4.6%).
The report clarifies that the municipal sphere includes municipalities (accounting for 78% of support awarded), the local business sector (15%) and associations of municipalities (6%), as well as parishes and their associations.
The four most populated municipalities in the North stand out for the largest amount of approved funds, with Porto leading the way with 76 million Euros, followed by Braga (66 million), Matosinhos (61 million) and Vila Nova de Gaia (52 million).
The largest projects supported in the North were the rehabilitation of the Bolhão Market, in Porto, with 14.8 million euros of support out of a total of 26.4 million eligible, and the replacement of 188 vehicles at the end of life of Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto (STCP), with 13.7 million euros of support out of 16.7 million eligible.
This is followed by the Outfall and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of the Este River (Braga), with nine million Euros out of 16.4 million eligible, and the Unit for the organic valorisation of selectively collected bio-waste at AMBISOUSA, with eight million Euros out of 16.2 million eligible.
Of the total, of the approximately 1.58 billion euros approved until June in the municipal sphere, 76% of the funds came from the Norte 2020 operational programme and 19% from the Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources programme (POSEUR).
"In the North, by the end of June 2022, 3,521 operations from entities that are in the municipal sphere were approved, corresponding to 1,996 and 1,580 million euros of eligible investment and approved fund, respectively, whose execution amounts to 1,099 million euros," the Norte UE report can read.
According to the document, "the North is the NUTS II region with the greatest dynamism in terms of municipal operations, concentrating 40% of the approved fund, despite representing only 20% of Portuguese municipalities".
"The four NUTS III regions with lower population densities (Terras de Trás-os-Montes, Douro, Alto Tâmega and Alto Minho) are also those which present intensities of support higher than the regional average (440 euros/inhabitant), concentrating 37% of the approved fund despite its resident population not exceeding 17%", says the document.
In the municipal sphere, "compared to June 30, 2021, in the North 240 more operations were approved (+7%), corresponding to about 294 million euros of eligible investment (+19%), of 159 million euros of approved fund (+11%), having registered an increase in execution of about 309 million euros (+39%), increasing the implementation rate from 56% to 70%," the text says.
The report also includes the investments catalogued as being part of the Integrated Territorial Development Approaches (AIDT) of the North, some of which are mixed with the capture of the municipal sphere, totalling 1,390 million euros and 8,102 approved operations.
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