The Portuguese Government has submitted 113 investment projects to the European Commission for consideration for funds under a new EU investment plan launched by Jean-Claude Juncker, the new President of the European Commission
The European Commission announced two weeks ago that it intended to launch investment of €315 billion over the next three years.
Juncker asked each member state to send in a wish list for public and private sector projects and the response from member states has been impressive, the money is free after all, and a list of over 2,000 projects with a total value of nearly four times the available budget has been received.
Portugal has submitted 113 projects with an estimated value of €30.5 billion.
The sector where the Portuguese Government has applied for funding is transport infrastructure. There are 37 projects that aim at increasing the efficiency of transport networks in Portugal.
There also are projects to improve each existing airport.
The next sector where more money is wanted is social infrastructure where 18 projects have been put forward, followed by water and sanitation and then social housing.
In the energy sector Portugal’s government has put forward 35 projects for the construction of new dams, interconnection projects with Spain and the second phase of wind power construction to accord with CO2 reduction targets.
As for Portugal’s list, the Government points out that this is not a final selection and may be subject to changes and additions.
The European Commission says that funds will be distributed on a project by project basis, not by a regional basis so if Portugal's projects are well presented and viable, even more money may soon flow from north to south.
