Application of European Funds: a multidisciplonary approach to the portuguese context

The Cohesion Policy was implemented one year after the reform of the Structural Funds introduced by the Delors Package I in 1988. This reform established a multiannual programming model that facilitated the approval of structural community support frameworks. The Treaty on European Union, adopted in Maastricht in 1991, elevated the Structural Funds to a central role in the deepening of European integration.

Its significance within European policy was further confirmed by the Lisbon Treaty (2007), which reiterated the importance of "economic, social, and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States." Supported by the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, the Cohesion Policy is executed through three Structural Funds, whose evolution has closely followed the course of European integration, gradually strengthening over time. The European Social Fund (established in 1958 following the initial references to regional disparities in the Treaty of Rome) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, 1975) preceded the Cohesion Fund (1994), created to assist countries with a GDP below 90% of the EU average, such as Spain, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal (Article 177, TFEU). 

These three Cohesion Policy funds, together with the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD, 2005) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF, 1993), form the five pillars of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) – described as "the main instrument of Regional Policy in European Portugal" (Law no. 82-A/2014 of 31 December) – and are currently governed by a unified European regulation. 

This significant investment has been negotiated within the shared governance model, which, in turn, adopts a "multi-level governance" approach. Since Portugal's accession, six ESIF programming cycles have been negotiated: an initial embryonic phase known as the Old Fund or First Regulation until 1988; followed by three Community Support Frameworks (CSFs), later renamed National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRF), and now Partnership Agreements (PT2020), with the PT2030 Partnership Agreement currently entering its implementation phase. 

Increasingly complex and legally specified, governance models reveal two major trends. On the one hand, management, control, and evaluation have become intertwined dimensions of governance. However, despite sporadic publications in Portugal, there is no substantial academic corpus to address the needs of the market. This gap has been filled by the jurisprudence of the CJEU and, primarily, by the European Court of Auditors, especially regarding auditing activities and the reliability statements of Member States' accounts under the Financial Regulation. 

While some literature exists in other Member States, its comparative utility is limited by the discretion afforded to Member States under the Common Provisions Regulation and specific EU regulations to establish their own national rules for these Structural Funds. Consequently, the available literature fails to provide adequate legal-hermeneutic responses deserving of deeper academic recognition. 

Although CJEU and national jurisprudence address issues such as public procurement under EU directives and financial corrections, other areas of legal analysis related to primary, secondary, and national law remain underdeveloped. The limited existing scholarship focuses on agricultural and R&D funds, leaving other areas unexplored. 

Notably, most academic output stems from audit authorities, often confined to administrative or inter-public entity spheres, with few publications addressing public policies from a legal-normative perspective. 

Within this context, PT2030 and its alignment with Recovery and Resilience Plans, with a seven-year timeline, underscore the need for research addressing key Structural Funds and programmatic options of the five strategic goals for 2030: a more Competitive and Intelligent Portugal, a Greener Portugal, a more Connected Portugal, a more Social Portugal, and a Portugal closer to its citizens. 

This research will adopt a legal and multidisciplinary approach, addressing all areas of EU fund implementation: 

  • Access to Funds; 
  • Fund Management; 
  • Fund Control; 
  • Fund Auditing; 
  • Compliance; 
  • Expense Certification; 
  • Other rules on fund application; 
  • Correlation with other legal areas, including Taxonomy Regulation and Environmental Law. 

 

Project Team

Prof. Dr. Nuno Cunha Rodrigues

Nuno Proença

 

Duration: 2024-2026

Project ongoing

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