Strategic priorities earned the city of Porto circa 1.4 billion euros in the framework of Portugal 2020

As regards EU Funding, the Municipality of Porto is at the top of the Commission's agenda as regards attractiveness. Since the Community framework kicked off, in 2014, circa 1.4 billion euros of Portugal 2020 were allocated to the city of Porto to deliver strategic works, both to support companies and training. This data was provided by the "Mais Transparência” portal.

The capacity of Porto’s accession to EU funding is related to the strategic projects in town, namely the Metro expansion, or the milestone works that are ongoing, such as the rehabilitation of the Bolhão market or the building of the new Terminal Intermodal de Campanhã.

However, a large amount of what has been allocated to the city until March 2020 – which corresponds to 6% of the total national amount of 24.5 billion euros – was allocated to support companies, research, training and recruitment. Per inhabitant and per year, the 1.4 billion euros represent a distribution of circa 6.500 euros per inhabitant in Porto, well above the national average of less than 2.400 euros.

The investment share allocated to Porto is distributed among 4.284 beneficiaries, whose 7.131 projects have been funded. Such projects include the Alchemy project, which joins the School of Biotechnology of Portuguese Catholic University and Amyris Bio Products Portugal, the decarbonisation process of the STCP fleet or even the installation of the technological centre of Natixis French technological bank.

Comparing to the Northern region, Porto receives circa 14% of the approved funds, and the share amounts to 34% when the assessment includes Porto Metropolitan Area, which has already received 4.2 billion euros.

The funds under the Portugal 2020 seek to support companies, fostering competitiveness within the national economy and globally, as well as sustainability, efficiency, human resources, social inclusion and employment. The investment is distributed among the various districts, according to the strategic priorities established in each fund

The total amount of allocated funds that each municipality attracts corresponds to the total amount of the funds approved by the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDER), the Social European Fund (FSE), the Cohesion Fund and the European for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (FEAMP).