Brussels, July 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The European Commission has allocated €81.4 million to Portugal to take forward two energy efficiency programmes in buildings belonging to the Judicial Police and the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
This €81.4 million for Portugal was announced on Thursday as part of a €2.5 billion package mobilised by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help member states “modernise their energy systems and meet their climate and energy targets”.
In Portugal’s case, around 67 million of this 81 million package will be allocated to an “integrated energy modernisation programme” for the Judicial Police (PJ).
The remaining 14 million will be allocated to another programme, entitled “sustainable building for the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences”.
In addition to these two Portuguese projects, a further 49 programmes in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia have been selected and will also receive European funding.
“Today’s disbursement will help to strengthen the competitiveness of EU industry by supporting modern, efficient and resilient energy infrastructure, increasing the production and storage of renewable energy, promoting innovation and helping to reduce imports of fossil fuels,” the commission said.
The €2.5 billion announced today was financed by the so-called Modernisation Fund, which is made up of revenue raised through the EU Emissions Trading System, the bloc’s carbon market.
The European Commission states that the Modernisation Fund “is a solidarity instrument designed to support the transition to clean energy in 13 lower-income EU member states”, i.e. those whose GDP per capita “was less than 75% of the Union average between 2016 and 2018”.
Quoted in the press release, European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera argues that the Modernisation Fund is an “excellent example” of how the revenue generated by the EU carbon market “can be channelled into investments that strengthen competitiveness in the context of the climate transition”.
“Whether for energy efficiency measures in industry, for the modernisation of electricity grids, or to help reduce energy prices by increasing renewable energy production or storage capacity, the resources generated by polluting activities are used to create cleaner and more competitive energy systems,” she emphasises.
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