At the February European Council the EU Heads of State and Government reached political agreement on the future EU budget and will enter into negotiations with the European Parliament. According to the information available on the Portuguese EU funds portal (www.qren.pt) the Council agreed to award Portugal a total of €27,8 billion for 2014-2020, of which €19,6 billion in Structural and Cohesion Funds and €8,1 billion for the Common Agricultural Policy (€3,6 billion for rural development and €4,5 billion for direct payments.

Press release

I know these have been difficult talks, so I am relieved that we have an agreement from the European Council on the EU budget for 2014-2020. Subject to the European Parliament's consent, we can continue our preparations for the next programming period for Cohesion Policy without any more delay. This is about getting EU investments to where they can do most good- creating jobs and helping Europe's recovery. It is about giving investors certainty about where private funds can also bolster our efforts.