“We must be even more rigorous and efficient in the use of these resources”, said Luís Montenegro, when speaking at the session commemorating the 40th anniversary of the creation of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) at the institution's headquarters, in Coimbra.

Support for Portugal from the European Union (EU) “must be used” according to “judicious use”, as an “economic instrument” to develop the country, and create wealth and employment, he advocated.

In this context, the Prime Minister disagreed with the idea that “it is necessary to spend” the funds made available by European bodies just to “not lose the money”.

“This perspective is not friendly to the future”, he added, defending that the Portuguese administration “has to respond more quickly” to the applications presented and to the monitoring of project execution processes.

For Luís Montenegro, it is necessary to “accelerate payment and aid mechanisms”.

Regarding the PRR, he regretted that, halfway through the EU aid process, only 20% of the funds made available have been implemented.