The Government of the Azores and the Association of Regional Municipalities Association signed today a protocol, through which the Government provides 20 million Euros to municipalities for the increase of urban renewal over the next 18 months.
 
The Vice-President, who signed the document on behalf of the Government, said this "major effort" will be implemented "with clear, objective and transparent rules." For the first time, this will provide Azorean municipalities with a significant investment in urban renewal "under a Community Support Framework.
 
However, Sérgio Ávila stressed that "the funds are granted under a protocol that was based on prior requirement for proper planning."
 
"In order to get where are today, it was necessary that each of the 19 Azorean municipalities presented an integrated plan to identify their strategy for the rehabilitation and recovery of its urban centres, so that the investments they will make are not random, but rather integrated investments that fall within in a previously defined strategy," said the government official.
 
The Vice-President stressed that "the availability of this allocation will require a large capacity for municipalities to implement the previously planned investments," given that time "is short" and we want to make a "full use" of funds.
 
Moreover, Sérgio Ávila also noted that, "since the rules of distribution of these funds by all municipalities are clearly defined," there will be the possibility of "redistributing funds when a municipality, for some reason, is unable to implement them."
 
For the Vice-President, the availability of these funds corresponds to the fulfilment of an aspiration of municipalities that was made possible in the current Community Support Framework, through a successful negotiation with the European Commission.