Employment, training and qualification policies reinforced by 100 million Euros, announces Vasco Cordeiro
The Government will reinforce the Community funds addressed at active employment, training and qualification policies by one hundred million Euros. These policies were awarded priority status regarding the use of EU funds allocated to the Region between 2014 and 2020, announced the President of the Government on Friday.
For the next seven years, the Government of the Azores has secured an amount higher than that allocated under the previous Community Support Framework, a total of 1,546 million Euros.
Of these EU funds, the Regional Government has decided to allocate 855 million Euros for interventions financed by the ERDF fund; 290 million Euros for the European Social Fund; 63 million Euros for investments in transport and the environment, through the Cohesion Fund.
"With this distribution, the Government clearly identifies that employment, training and qualification policies were awarded priority status in public policies, compared to the current programming period 2007-2013. In fact, there is a reinforcement of 100 million Euros in the Fund that will finance these policies," added Vasco Cordeiro at a press conference accompanied by the Vice-President, Sérgio Ávila.
The 918 million Euros allocated under ERDF and Cohesion Fund will maintain a significant level of public investment in the Region to be carried out by the Regional Government and Local Authorities. Moreover, this amount will also enable the funding of incentive schemes in the Azores, support mechanisms for private investment and regional companies as well as other measures provided in the Azorean Agenda for Employment Creation and Business Competitiveness, the Technological Agenda and the Public Works Charter.
According to the President of the Government, in addition to cohesion funds, there are also EU funds for the areas comprised by common policies, such as the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), a fundamental financial tool in the support to the agricultural sector and one of the key pillars of the regional economic base. Under this Community Fund, the Azores were granted a financial envelope of 295 million Euros for the 2014-2020 period. This amount was reinforced by 21 million Euros compared to the budget allocated for the current programming period 2007-2013.
The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), a fundamental budget line of the Community Budget for the European maritime and fisheries policies, will support the projects developed by the Azores with a financial envelope whose amount will be approximately the same allocated under the current envelope: 35 million Euros.
With regard to the measures for the development of Regional Cross-Border and Transnational Cooperation, Vasco Cordeiro announced that the Azores have secured a reinforcement of 50%, with an increase from 5.2 million Euros to 7.8 million Euros. There is also the possibility of accessing an additional support measure of 2.7 million Euros, which represents the doubling of resources for these actions.
"Hence, it is with great pride that the Government of the Azores can announce to all Azoreans that it has managed to secure the maintenance of the same levels of funding granted under the previous Community Support Framework for the 2014-2020 period and has even increased this amount compared to the previous programming period," said the President of the Government.
Of the various cohesion funds, the Azores have assured a financial envelop of 1,546 million Euros in Community co-funding, which corresponds to an increase of 8 million Euros regarding the current Community Support Framework. This fact is particularly significant and relevant in the context of the actual decrease of Community funds in the EU budget.
The Regional Government is carrying out the necessary procedures so that the new 2014-2020 programming period enters into force as soon as possible. However, the implementation of the new programming period is dependent on the European approval of the necessary legal tools and applicable regulations, being necessary for the presentation of operational programmes on the strategy for the use of EU funds and the expected results, as well as on the negotiation of these documents with the services of the European Commission.