The European Commission has given a positive assessment of Portugal’s ninth request for €2.32 billion from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the main funding tool under NextGenerationEU.
Portugal submitted the payment request on 18 May 2026, and the Commission said in a statement on Thursday that it found the country had completed 22 milestones and 29 targets linked to the request.
The measures covered include changes and investment in areas such as education, waste management and the circular economy, business simplification, forest management, digitalisation of public administration and access to finance.
Among the measures cited by the Commission was work to modernise vocational education and training, alongside a €1 billion investment in equity and quasi-equity to support Portuguese companies’ capital base.
It also pointed to the ‘Emparcelar para Ordenar’ programme, which it said is intended to strengthen risk prevention and sustainable land use, including measures linked to rural fires and biodiversity loss.
What happens next
The Commission said it has sent its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee — a body that includes EU member states — which has four weeks to deliver its opinion.
A payment can follow after the committee’s opinion and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.
Portugal’s overall recovery and resilience plan is financed by €21.9 billion, made up of €16.3 billion in grants and €5.6 billion in loans.
If this request is paid, it would bring the total funds disbursed to Portugal under the facility to €17.23 billion, including €2.33 billion in pre-financing.
