The government delegate in Aragón, Fernando Beltrán, recalled on Tuesday that there is “no shadow of a doubt about the capacity of Spain, which Aragón has, for the correct execution of European Funds” following statements by the president of the Government of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, in which he has criticized the Plan of Recovery, Transformation and Resilience. “The greatest damage that can be done right now to the policy of attracting European funds is an announcement like the one made yesterday by the regional president, because it makes absolutely no sense to stand on the horse of the Apocalypse,” said Beltrán.
The government delegate to the community also recalled that the Government of Aragon directly manages 848 million euros, which is “10% of the spending ceiling it has approved for next year” in the regional budgets. “We would understand that the President of the Government of Aragon was right now worrying about the optimal management of all these funds, and about attracting the calls that have to come so that within the autonomous community the maximum possible amount of all that money is left,” explained Beltrán.
Beltrán has insisted on the importance of the Recovery Plan by pointing out that it has a sum of 163 billion euros for a period that goes until 2027 for the whole of Spain. “The benefit in Aragón can already be seen in actions that have directly affected the autonomous community in examples such as the development of the Broadband Plan, the Digital Kit, in the high-tech equipment projects that we already have in hospitals in Zaragoza, or in sustainable urban development projects for small principles for localities of less than five thousand inhabitants,” he said.
In the same way, there are large delivery packages, one of them is the PERTE of the electric and connected vehicle. It has two phases: in the first phase it already has fifty million euros and in the second phase it has seventy-five million euros, lacking other phases to announce. Another of the great programs in which Aragon is leading the way in attracting European funds is green hydrogen. “In this last line they have already covered the order of 60 million euros, and we are getting them not only for the capital or for the provincial capitals, because smaller municipalities such as La Zaida, Caspe or Zuera are also getting money for all these types of plans,” explained the government delegate in Aragón.
Regarding the execution figures, Beltrán has pointed out that 80% of the amounts committed, that is, 30 billion euros in Spain, “already have a recipient with names and surnames”, with execution deadlines of two or three years “depending on the business investment to be made”. In this sense, he has considered that the degree of progress in this matter is “extremely important”.