The Azores Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIA) warns of the “low implementation rates” of EU funds and the Region’s Investment Plan, calling for “a very significant effort to change this situation.”

“With regard to the PRR [Recovery and Resilience Plan], in less than a year, more than double what has been executed since 2021 remains to be executed, with this program presenting an overall execution rate of 42.67%, but with very different situations between the planned measures, with a negative emphasis on what is happening in terms of the planned recapitalization of companies, a structural area for companies,” reads a statement from the CCIA 2025 Forum.

Business leaders consider it essential to revisit other instruments in the area of business financing and “consider other solutions that have been proposed throughout the process, otherwise a significant and important amount of funding for the regional business community will be wasted.”The CCIA also warns of the impact of the end of the PRR on businesses linked to this area and on the sustainability of projects financed by this program, “with repercussions on the foreseeable increase in public spending,” calling for the adoption of measures that take this reality into account.

The Azores-2030 Operational Program, which runs until 2027, “also has a very low implementation rate,” according to business leaders, who emphasize its “crucial importance for private and public investment.” The region’s investment plans are also a cause for concern for the business association, which notes that the 2024 plan had “an implementation rate of 67.42%, with actions that are very relevant to businesses, which have rates lower than the overall rate, such as tourism, commerce, and industry, which already had insufficient funding.”

“The 2025 Regional Annual Plan, in the first half of the year, has an execution rate of 40.69%, with the aforementioned economic activities continuing to have execution rates below the overall average,” it adds. For entrepreneurs, the full implementation of EU funds, specifically the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the Azores Operational Program 2030, and POSEI, “should be a priority objective for the entire Azorean society.”

“It would be incomprehensible and unacceptable for the region not to take advantage of these financial resources that have been made available, but with the right options that boost the regional economy, avoiding its drain abroad, as has been the case,” they point out.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs consider it “unacceptable that some programs financed by EU funds are not yet fully operational and that others are awaiting the opening of phases, with no foreseeable date.” They also call for “the need to speed up and reduce bureaucracy in procedures,” arguing that often “the region imposes more restrictive rules than those established by the country and the European Union.”

Regarding the Region’s Plan and Budget for 2026, the CCIA argues that the documents should “clearly express the ambition to implement EU funds” and that “they should be the subject of the greatest political consensus.” Business leaders believe that the documents should contain “greater relevance for the private sector in generating wealth and employment and as a relevant element in the creation of sustainable social policies.” They should also provide for a “continuous and consistent reduction in current expenditure through a plan with well-defined objectives.”

“The very worrying trend of worsening imbalance between revenue and expenditure, which has contributed to the accentuation of the difficult situation of regional public finances, must be reversed. In 2024, current expenditure grew by 15.4%. This imbalance cannot be combated without genuine expenditure restraint,” the statement reads.

The CCIA proposes “the creation of a plan to reverse the trend of worsening regional public debt, with a medium-term time horizon.” It also calls for “timely payment to private suppliers by the regional administration, as well as the support that has been made available to companies, which cannot continue to finance the government.”

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.