President of the Republic says that “this is the time” to review the regional finance law

The President of the Republic said today that "this is the time" for the national and regional executives to discuss the revision of the regional finance law before "another crisis arises" that relegates the issue to a secondary role.

Speaking to journalists at the Marine Sciences Research Institute in Horta, Faial Island, Azores, he said that "it makes sense for the Government of the Republic and regional governments to sit down at the table" to, after "situations that have not made it easy to talk about regional finances", now address the issue.

"I'm saying that this is the time before another crisis hits. Because it's not a time of good times, but it's a time of times that aren't as lean as they have been in recent years. If we wait for another global, European, or national crisis, then it's no longer comparable to today's," he added.

Marcelo argued that "at this moment there is a situation that allows us to think, compare numbers and find solutions", reinforcing the warning that it is necessary to "take advantage of a break between crises to see what is possible to agree on, to reach a consensus" because "then new crises come".

The President of the Republic stressed that "there are situations that arise due to the lack of periodic review of the Regional Finance Law" that result in "very difficult financial situations for the autonomous regions."

"You only need to see the physical discontinuity to understand this. And the difficulties this entails for airfares, the mobility of goods, and the price of products, most of which are not manufactured goods, but manufactured by industry in the autonomous regions," he explained.

Marcelo also said he understands that the Government claims to have "many requests" and "that there is not enough money for everything," but added that this is an issue that arises from the Constitution and the "nature of the Portuguese State, which is a regional State" that has two autonomous regions with "more complicated economic and financial conditions than the regions of the mainland."

In the State of the Nation debate on July 17, the Prime Minister stated that the executive is available to discuss "more intensely" the review of the regional finance law, adding that he has planned a Council of Ministers with the participation of the presidents of the Regional Governments.