The government delegate in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, insisted this morning that it is “worrying, and even imprudent, that different public administrations are modifying and even rejecting actions that have obtained funding from European funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.”
In particular, Arraiz Nada has referred to the modification by the current team of municipal government of Logroño of the bike lane already started in Avenida de Portugal, who have been asked to consult the Official State Gazette of August 23, 2021, which includes the conditions that must meet the projects that the various administrations present to obtain European funding within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
Among them, he explained that one of the points he specifies is that projects that obtain European funding cannot be reversed or modified within five years, since otherwise the funds would have to be returned to the European Commission.
Therefore, following the letter sent by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) to the City of Logroño this week, the delegate said that “I consider inappropriate the statements of the mayor of the city in which he qualifies this letter as a ‘tone of threat’ when the reality is that it only details and warns of possible breaches that are being committed of the regulatory bases for the granting of this aid”.
In this letter, it has indicated that Mitma informs the city that the modifications it has sent to the ministry, consisting of a change of the planned route for the bike path that runs along Avenida de Portugal, do not validate the decisions taken and could lead to a breach of one or several of the conditions established in the granting regulations.
Therefore, it is required in the letter that informs the ministry about the scope of the actions carried out and the decisions taken, in order to assess whether the start of the procedure for reimbursement of the grant received is appropriate.
The delegate pointed out that “complying with the requirements for granting European funds is not an issue that is required according to the political colors of the administrations, as stated by the mayor, it is a question of compliance with the established clauses”, she added.
And he added that “in any case, the attitude of the ministry is to help and collaborate with the municipalities, so that they do not lose a single euro of funding. This will be the case in the meeting between the Mitma and the Consistorio Logroñés”.
Portugal Avenue Bike Lane
The delegate recalled that the City of Logroño was beneficiary in 2022 of the “Programme of aid to municipalities for the implementation of low-emission zones and the digital and sustainable transformation of urban transport, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan”, with a grant of 6.5 million euros for the realization of certain actions to improve sustainable mobility, among which is the East-West cyclist axis of the capital of Rioja.
As he pointed out, in July 2022, Mitma already paid the City of Logroño in advance the first advance payment of this subsidy, specifically 4,395,357.58 euros, and the second advance payment of this aid is being processed, pending the resolution of the modification of deadlines requested by the Logroño Council itself for several of its actions.
As he has clarified, the project presented by Logroño to this call includes ten performances, among which is the East-West cycle axis, which includes the stretch of avenue of Portugal, and others such as the reform of Sagasta Street.
In this regard, it has detailed that Mitma issued a clarifying note in which it explains in detail that it is not possible to renounce a line of action within a project granted without renouncing the total of the grant.
On the other hand, on August 25, the Consistory of the capital of Rioja sent a letter to the Mitma communicating a modification in the reach of the cyclist corridor, consisting of an alteration of the route initially planned.
“It is important to bear in mind that this change has not been requested or authorized by Mitma and that, according to the last follow-up report sent by the City of Logroño, corresponding to June 2023, the stretch affected by the notified modification would be executed and in service since April 2023,” he said.
In addition, Arraiz Nalda has insisted that Article 5 of the regulatory bases of the call for this aid is established that “it is a requirement of the financed actions that they remain operative for at least five years from their entry into service”.
This same article specifies that failure to comply with this period of maintenance of the operation or operation of the subsidized action will force the reinstatement of the aid and according to the procedure of revocation and reinstatement provided in Title II of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, on Subsidies and in Title III of its Development Regulation.
In addition, it is established that actions that do not guarantee full compliance with “not causing significant harm” or do not contribute to the objectives of climate change will not be able to obtain aid, and the recovery of a lane for the circulation of vehicles could go against this principle.
On the other hand, the regulation also specifies that the beneficiary municipalities must request the Mitma authorization for any modification of the subsidized projects, and that these can only be authorized by the Mitma provided that there is an event that justifies it, when they do not represent a substantial change in the subsidized action and provided that the rights of third parties are not damaged.