The delegate of the Government in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, insisted this morning that the will of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) is to collaborate and help the City of Logroño so that it does not lose the funding that comes from the European Union to decarbonize and digitize urban mobility in the city.
Arraiz Nalda recalled that last Monday a meeting was held in Madrid between Mitma and the Consistorio Logroñés to analyze the request for modification presented by the City Council on September 15 on the actions of the Program of aid to municipalities for the implementation of low emission zones and the digital and sustainable transformation of urban transport of the Recovery Plan.
At this meeting, it was agreed to work, at a technical level, on the proposals for modification. For the delegate, “this is a sign of the constructive spirit of the Ministry so that the requirements for the execution of the actions financed are met and the European subsidies that have been granted do not have to be returned”.
Specifically, the Logroño Consistory was a beneficiary in 2022 with a grant of 6.5 million euros for the development of certain actions to improve sustainable mobility, among which is the East-West cyclist axis. In view of the proposed amendments proposed by the City of Logroño and those already implemented, the Mitma insisted on the need to ensure compliance with both the requirements imposed by the law on subsidies and those derived from the Recovery Plan, which frame the actions included in the program, and which are subject to the control of the European institutions.
The delegate pointed out that a fundamental requirement of this aid and that “the local government team was already aware of” is that the beneficiary municipalities must request authorization from Mitma for any modification of the subsidized projects. These modifications can only be authorized by Mitma provided that they do not represent a substantial change in the subsidized action, so that compliance with all the applicable regulations, both national and European, is guaranteed.
In this way, he added that it is evident that the works that began on August 22 to eliminate the exclusive lane for avenue bicycles of Portugal were produced before the communication of the City of Logroño to the Ministry, which took place on August 25. “This modification was neither requested nor authorized by Mitma,” he said.
Likewise, one of the points that are specified in the conditions that must be met by the projects that the various administrations presented to obtain European funding within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism is that they cannot be reversed or modified within five years. Otherwise, the funds would have to be returned to the European Commission.
Therefore, Arraiz Nalda explained that it is necessary to verify compliance with the national and European regulatory framework in which the Program of aid to municipalities is framed, in accordance with the project that the City Council presented.
“As I have said on previous occasions, it is not a question that is required according to the political colors of the administrations, it is a question of obligatory compliance with the established clauses,” he said.
If it is true, that as it has been moved, the Mitma remains attentive to all the changes that the new municipalities are making or have announced that they will carry out to modify the actions built thanks to the financing of the European Next Generation funds.
This monitoring action is due to the fact that if the administrations do not comply with the regulations they will have to return the European funds they have received for the construction of bike lanes and to accelerate sustainable mobility in accordance with the objectives set by the European Commission.
Extension of execution
On the other hand, the outstanding that in April 2023 an extension until December 31, 2024 was requested by the previous Local Government team for the date of execution of the different actions financed with European funds. This request was resolved by the Ministry before the meeting held on Monday and was communicated to the city council.
In this way, the delegate has set as an example this decision to extend the deadlines as yet another sign of collaborating and working together.