Brussels, 13/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Wednesday 13 April that his country would respect its economic commitments to Europe, in a speech before the European Parliament, which he described as the “House of democracy”.
“It's a great honour to be able to say that Europe has been a staunch ally of Portugal” and “Portugal honoured its commitments by leaving its bailout plan” without calling for additional help, the centre-right political leader said (our translation). He pledged that his country was making every effort to keep on top of its public finances whilst helping the weakest social categories of Portuguese society, who made “enormous sacrifices” to allow the country to return to financial autonomy in May 2014. Rebelo de Sousa made no bones about the fact that the economic path traced out by the current Socialist government with the support of the extreme left is “different” from the one pursued by the former majority in power, of which he is a member. However, this path, whereby “consumption can also contribute to growth”, targets the “same macro-economic and financial objectives”.
Just a few days after taking up his position as President of the Portuguese Republic, Rebelo de Sousa enacted the 2016 Portuguese government, which narrowly avoided a negative opinion of the European Commission, subject to the Portuguese government's promise to create subsequent budgetary measures (see EUROPE 11488). However, he expressed doubts as to the reliability of the economic forecasts on which the Portuguese Finance Bill is based.
Reiterating the turbulence in its history, which saw Portugal moving rapidly from a dictatorship to democracy within Europe, the co-founder of the weekly newspaper Expresso called upon all Europeans to show solidarity and to find European solutions to the challenges the continent is facing. On the refugee crisis, “my country sets the example, because it was the first to welcome refugees”, he stressed. Rejecting “xenophobic behaviours” and “cold prejudice”, the Portuguese President also called on the European leaders to listen to the “legitimate aspirations” of their fellow citizens in terms of security, justice, employment and well-being. He called for Europe to serve as a model for the fight major international causes, such as “financial transparency” and “environmental justice”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)