In a statement, the regional entity says that the program, a financial instrument to support the region financed by the European Union, currently has a commitment rate of 16.37%, corresponding to 128 million euros (ME) of approved funds.

Approved for the period 2021-2027, Algarve 2030 has a total of 780.3 ME in European funds, of which 668 ME from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 112 ME from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

The objective is to finance investments that promote environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, and the appreciation of the territory and people, with a focus on their quality of life.

To increase the program's execution rate, the Algarve 2030 Management Authority has adopted measures to “accelerate public investment of European funds”, according to the note from the Algarve CCDR.

The measures include the advance financing of up to 100% of expenses submitted by 31 October, allocated to each operation, and the increase in the co-financing rate, between five and 10 percentage points, in operations included in the Integrated Territorial Initiative with the Algarve Intermunicipal Community and the Agency for Administrative Modernization (AMAL).

According to the Algarve CCDR, “the efforts and operational efforts with public promoters will be reinforced”, namely civil protection, municipalities, universities, entities in the scientific and technological system and those responsible for water and waste management, “inviting them to submit applications during the month of May”.

According to the regional entity, the region has to execute a minimum of 106 million euros until November 30th to comply with the N+3 rule, the so-called ‘guillotine rule’, with Algarve 2030 being its first year of assessment.

The N+3 rule determines that the allocation for one year is executed in the following three years, being assessed annually in December based on expenditure certified to the European Commission.

If this rule is not followed, it will result in a loss of resources.