Communiqué from the Council of the Government - Communication

The Council of the Government, which met on September 18, 2024, in Ponta Delgada, adopted the following measures:

1. Approve the Regional Implementing Decree regulating the "Incentive System for Administrative Modernisation of the Azorean Local Public Administration."

This incentive system is designed to support local public administration in the Azores in the digital transformation of public services, the creation of sustainable electronic services and the promotion of innovation and competitiveness.

SIMA+Local is a tool that will ensure the financing of various projects in the Azorean Local Public Administration, contributing to the transformation of public services along the path of digital transition and centred on citizens and companies.

With this incentive system, the Government aims to provide a better public service, reinforcing proximity as well as simpler, safer, more effective and efficient access to citizens, and to reduce context costs, promoting the modernisation and capacity building of the regional public administration.

This incentive system is fully funded by the RRP, except VAT, when not recoverable, which is covered by the Regional Budget.

The overall allocation is set at €5,587,757.12.

2. Approve the Regional Implementing Decree approving the organisational structure, senior management and managerial staff of the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities.

The approval of this organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities is in line with the organisational structure of the XIV Regional Government of the Azores.

3. Approve the Resolution authorising the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Food to create extraordinary financial support for the purchase of fibrous concentrate to feed livestock in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

The Regional Government, through the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Food, is aware of and concerned about the current drought in the Azores, especially on some islands, and has been working on alternative support to deal with the lack of feed for cattle on farms.

The resolution approved today provides extraordinary support for the purchase of fibrous concentrate to feed livestock in the Region.

This measure takes into account the voracious effects of climate change, which have caused atypical weather conditions, namely extreme drought, adverse to normal agricultural production, particularly fodder production.

4. Approve the Resolution authorising the transfer of €1,916,305.00 to the Financing Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries, I.P. regarding the payment of expenses incurred under the intervention of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (PEPAC Azores) for "areas affected by specific constraints," and the transfer of €1,390,472.00 for the payment of expenses incurred under the intervention related to "Agri-environmental and Climate Measures" of the same programme.

These transfers are intended to meet the commitments made under the PEPAC Azores, since the EAFRD contribution rate is 85% of eligible public expenditure under the aforementioned interventions and the contribution rate for the Autonomous Region of the Azores is 15%, according to the PEPAC for Portugal in the 2023-2027 period.

5. Approve the Resolution authorising the transfer of the payment of the Supplement to the Milk Producers' Premium under the POSEI Programme to the Financing Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries I.P.

The allocation of the supplement to the Milk Producers' Premium under the Portugal POSEI Programme for the Autonomous Region of the Azores is intended to cover the commitments made and apportionments, under the aforementioned programme, amounting to €4,035,184.00.

6. Approve the Resolution determining the revision of the Tourism Management Plan for the Autonomous Region of the Azores (POTRAA), now the Territorial Development Plan for Tourism in the Azores (PDTA).

The revision of POTRAA, now PDTA, is intended to proceed with the planning, development, improvement and management of the aspects of the tourism sector that have a territorial impact on the Autonomous Region of the Azores, according to the strategic framework defined by the new Strategic and Marketing Plan for Tourism in the Azores (PEMTA 2030).

The revision process began in 2017 and ended in 2019. However, it did not culminate in the updating of this territorial management tool, as the revision proposal turned out to be obsolete given the strong dynamics of the tourism sector in previous years.