It is a PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT signed by Portugal and the European Commission (see DECISION), that gathers the action of 5 European Structural and Investment Funds - ERDF, Cohesion Fund, ESF, EAFRD and EMFF - in which the programming principles are set out to mark the economic, social and territorial development policy to be promoted in Portugal between 2014 and 2020
These programming principles are aligned with the Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth pursued by EUROPA 2020 STRATEGY.
Portugal shall be awarded 25 thousand million euros until 2020 and for this it set out the Thematic Goals to stimulate the growth and the creation of Employment, the necessary interventions to execute them and the undertakings and the outputs expected as a result of these funding.
The main goals of Portugal 2020 policies are: to promote the production of tradable goods and services; to increase exports; to transfer outputs from the scientific system to the productive fabric; the observance of compulsory education currently up to 18 years of age; to decrease early school leaving levels; to integrate people at risk of poverty and to combat social exclusion; to promote sustainable development in terms of resource use efficiency; to strengthen territorial cohesion, particularly in low-density cities and areas and to rationalise, modernise and empower Public Administration.
At the Portuguese authorities' initiative an EX ANTE ASSESSMENT OF THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT | Executive Summary PT/EN, was undertaken, based on an interactive process that strengthened the scrutiny of the major strategic choices.
Portugal 2020 programming and implementation are developed around four thematic domains: - Competitiveness and Internationalisation; - Social Inclusion and Employment; - Human Capital; - Sustainability and the Efficient Use of Resources. The Agreement also takes into account the cross-cutting dimensions related to public administration reform and an integrated intervention approach at the territorial level.
In terms of eligibility to the European Investment Funds (ERDF, Cohesion Fund, ESF, EAFRD and EMMF), the 7 regions of Portugal are sub-divided in:
Portugal 2020 shall be operationalized through 16 Operational Programmes plus the Territorial Cooperation Programmes in which Portugal shall participate together with the other Member-States:
Portugal will be allocated 25 thousand million euros until 2020 for the totality of the funds which shall be allocated within the scope of each of the 16 Operational, thematic and regional programmes.
