Brussels, 02/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has taken note of the fact that the Portuguese Constitutional Court has ruled that a number of austerity measures taken by the government are unlawful.
On Monday 2 June, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, said that the Commission recommended that the Portuguese government submit replacement measures as soon as possible in order to ensure it meets its commitments.
The court rejected three of the four measures referred to it by the Left opposition, including a reduction in pay for civil servants earning more than €675 a month. The court's decision is not retroactive and the reduction came into force on 1 January. The court also rejected a 6% reduction in unemployment benefit, a 5% reduction in sickness benefit and a measure introducing preconditions for the payment of a widow's pension. The court did, however, give the go-ahead to a measure to reduce additional pension entitlements for people working for public companies.
Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said the latest constitutional court rejection of austerity measures was “extremely annoying”. Press reports suggest the government must now find other savings of up to €800 million, possibly via an increase in VAT. (MB)