"I welcome the ambitious proposal of the European Commission, which is up to the challenge that Europe faces", wrote António Costa in his personal account on the social network Twitter.

In his messages, the Prime Minister underlines "the importance of the proposed reinforcement for cohesion policy and rural development" and states that the Portuguese Government will "analyze the distribution key between the different Member States, in order to guarantee the economic and social convergence".

"This proposal opens the door to the reunion of the European project with the Europeans. It is now up to the Council not to frustrate this hope", warns António Costa, here in a message addressed to countries that have opposed these advances, such as Holland, Austria, Denmark and Sweden.

Portugal may raise 26.3 billion Euros in grants and loans under the European Union (EU) Recovery Fund, which amounts to a total of 750 billion Euros and which is intended to minimize the economic and social effects caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Within the scope of this new fund presented by the European Commission, Portugal may have access to a total of 15.5 billion Euros in grants (distributed in a non-refundable form) and to 10.8 billion Euros in the form of loans granted in favourable conditions.

The countries most affected by the covid-19 pandemic, Italy and Spain, could receive 172.7 billion Euros (81.8 billion Euros in grants and 90.9 billion in loans) and 140.4 billion Euros (77.3 billion Euros in grants and 63.1 billion in loans).

Non-repayable grants will be channelled through four channels, three of which are new: REACT EU (new cohesion support initiative), the Recovery and Resilience Tool, the new Fund for a Just Transition and through Rural Development.