Development programmes

1. The purpose and aim of the EU investment

The Operational Programme aims to contribute to a more sustainable and balanced territorial development as well as to an open, more integrated and competitive Portuguese economy.

The main strategic goals include:

• international transport improvement and Trans-European Network Transport (TEN-T) connection
• infrastructure and public equipment consolidation, thereby structuring the Portuguese territory to ensure its competitiveness and economic and social cohesion
• urban decentralization contributions by strengthening the links between towns and countryside
• natural resources preservation and enhancement, environmental biodiversity
• sustainable environmental services improvement
• natural and technological risks prevention, management and monitoring.

The Programme will be a valuable contribution to attain some of the core strategic priorities defined in the Portuguese National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), which includes:

• sustainable and balanced territorial development
• territory and urban competitiveness by promoting decentralisation, improving internal connections, reinforcing the urban system, reducing natural and technological risks and reducing regional development disparities

2. The expected impact of the investment

The Operational Programme will enable the construction of a high-speed railway network, including some 568 km of railways (part of priority projects of the TEN-T); some 190 km of conventional rail (part of the TEN-T); as well as the construction of some 115 km of highways (part of the TEN-T). It will also contribute to the new Lisbon airport.

The Programme also aims to increase the share of the population served by the public water supply system to 95% and to increase the share of the population served by water treatment systems to 90%. In terms of risk prevention, the Programme should increase the amount of territory covered emergency networks (i.e. by the national risk prevention and by the management and monitoring system) to 95%. In the region of Madeira, the Programme should reduce energy intensity and emission of CO2 by nearly 9% and increase the share of population served by public water supply and treatment services to 78%. The Programme will improve the quality of surface water by 10% in the region of the Azores; and contribute to more frequent passenger maritime transport between the islands.

3. Priority axes

The Thematic Territorial Enhancement Operational Programme is structured along ten priorities: five will be financed by the Cohesion Fund while the remaining other five will be financed by the ERDF. The Cohesion Fund investment will allocate 50% of its funds to the transport sector and 50% to the environment and sustainable energy use efforts.

Priority 1: National Structural Transport Networks and Equipment (Cohesion Fund) [approximately 33.3% of total funding]

The objective of this priority is to contribute to the achievement of the TEN-T, railways highways, and to the construction of the new Lisbon airport. The investment will be spent on several TEN-T priority projects, in particular PP3 and 19 (high-speed railway Lisbon-Oporto, Lisbon-Badajoz-Madrid and Oporto-Vigo), TEN-T priority project 8 (multimodal transport links – new Lisbon airport), TEN-T priority project 16 (freight railway link Sines/Algeciras-Madrid-Paris) and finally the completion of certain TEN road links.

Priority 2: Structural Water Supply Network (Cohesion Fund) [approximately 17.2% of total funding]

The aim is to improve public water supply and water treatment systems access to improve the efficiency of these systems and to reduce water mismanagement. This is to be done through support for the construction of water supply and water treatment infrastructures.

Priority 3: Prevention, Management and Monitoring of Natural and Technological Risks (Cohesion Fund) [approximately 11.5% of total funding]

The goal is to improve the national civil protection system by increasing its capacity to cover the whole territory and to develop a nationwide system for the prevention, management and monitoring of natural and technological risks. This is to be realised through one national system for the management of emergencies and another system for risk prevention, support to fight coast erosion and support to the rehabilitation of contaminated sites (soils, mines, etc).

Priority 4: Structural Networks and Equipment in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (Cohesion Fund) [approximately 1.5% of total funding]

This priority aims to improve:

• archipelago maritime transport efficiency and safety levels
• environmental protection (in particular of water resources and waste management) by promoting renewable energy production. This is to be achieved through improved infrastructure in certain ports, better waste management infrastructure, better surface water quality, and investments for the production of electric energy from renewable sources (mini-hydroelectric plants and wind energy).

Priority 5: Structural Networks and Equipment in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (Cohesion Fund) [approximately 2.1% of total funding]

The specific objective is to:

• diversify energy production
• improve energy efficiency
• reduce CO2 emissions
• improve maritime transport and management of solid waste
• promote efficient water resource management.

These efforts are to be pursued through improving port infrastructure support, introducing co-generation for electricity production and by supporting better waste management, water supply and water management systems.

Priority 6: Structuring Investments for the Multi Purpose Alqueva Project (ERDF) [approximately 5.9% of total funding]

The specific objective is to complete the basic primary water supply and to manage the distribution for irrigation and other needs. This is to be pursued through the construction of water supply and water-transport systems.

Priority 7: Infrastructures for the Connection of Territories (ERDF) [approximately 5.8% of total funding]

This priority will improve the internal and external connections of the Portuguese territory and promote the sea as a “highway” for short sea shipping transport. This is to be pursued through support for the construction and upgrade of roads and of maritime and logistic support infrastructures.

Priority 8: National Infrastructures for processing Urban Solid Waste (ERDF) [approximately 3.3% of total funding]

The purpose is to make solid waste treatment more efficient, to reduce the number of solid waste deposits and to improve the recycling process. This will be achieved by improving solid waste treatment units and by promoting partnerships among stakeholders (municipalities, public and private enterprises, etc).

Priority 9: Development of the National Urban System (ERDF) [approximately 17.2% of total funding]

The specific objective is to develop national urban equipment and to develop innovative answers to issues such as urban mobility, crime prevention, eco-innovation, etc. These objectives will be realised through the construction of secondary schools, including sport infrastructures.

Priority 10: Technical assistance [approximately 2.1% of total funding]

4. Managing Authority