The article discusses the urgent need for regionalisation in Portugal, highlighting how recent severe weather events have exposed the country's vulnerabilities due to an excessively centralised governance model. It argues that the lack of administrative regions creates a governance void that hampers effective civil protection, resource management, and policy integration. The author advocates for an elected regional level to enhance accountability and transparency, emphasizing that decentralisation must be paired with robust information systems to ensure effective governance. The piece concludes that regionalisation is essential for adapting to climate change and improving democratic engagement.
Portugal is held hostage by a centralised model. The debate must shift from 'who is in charge' to 'how it works'. Opinion piece by António Augusto Fernandes
Political parties were in agreement during the parliamentary debate on regionalisation, acknowledging that there is “too much centralism” in the country, but they advocate for different solutions.
Although there is consensus regarding the “excessive centralism” of the Portuguese State, the paths proposed by Livre, BE and PAN did not convince the right-wing parties. The PSD argues that the Government's current focus is to “simplify, debureaucratise and empower what already exists”.
The parties are presenting three bills this Friday to initiate the discussion, including a proposal to create a citizens' assembly to debate the topic by the end of the year.
The Communist parliamentary group proposes, as part of a new work programme, that the Assembly of the Republic should promote hearings on regionalisation by the end of the year.
Regionalisation returns to the Portuguese Parliament this Friday, April 17, with the Livre party proposing a citizens' assembly to evaluate the legal framework for administrative regions. The initiative aims to relaunch the process, which has been stalled since the 1998 referendum, by using a participatory democracy mechanism to define the model and prepare for a potential new referendum. Meanwhile, the Left Bloc (BE) has introduced a bill calling for the abolition of the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDRs) and updates to existing legislation, while the JPP party proposes the creation of five autonomous regions.
Administrative regionalisation is a key structural issue for the organisation of the State and a necessary response to the problem of an overly centralised country. The proposal aims to bring decision-making closer to the people by establishing regions with democratically elected bodies, thereby improving public policy, resource management, and territorial development. By shifting responsibilities from the central government to regional authorities, the model seeks to address territorial inequalities, reduce bureaucracy, and ensure that public services are better aligned with local needs.
At the 25th PS Congress, taking place until Sunday in Viseu, the party's former parliamentary leader acknowledged that these are “difficult times” and “demanding on both the national and European levels.”
The 25th National Congress of the Socialist Party (PS) in Viseu is debating various sectoral motions alongside the party's global strategy. Proposals range from serious political reforms, such as regionalisation and European integration, to unusual claims, including one member's recurring demand for the party to take a stand against the alleged 'swapping of babies' in maternity wards. Other key motions focus on youth representation, territorial cohesion, and the need for the PS to move beyond waiting for the government's decline to establish itself as a viable alternative.
The revision of the Local Finance Law, long requested by mayors, is another priority defined in the sectoral motion that the Mayor of Matosinhos is taking to the PS Congress.
The mayor of Coimbra argued today for regionalisation to ensure transformation and climate change adaptation policies are designed at a territorial scale.
The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion stated this Tuesday in Porto that “regionalisation will happen when the people want it,” shifting the decision to move forward with a referendum on the topic to Parliament. To avoid any doubt, he warned immediately that the Government will not proceed with regionalisation, just as the Prime Minister...
The Law of Parkinson states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. The Law of Hanlon advises against attributing to malice what can be explained by stupidity. The Law of Upton Sinclair asserts that it is difficult for someone to understand something when their salary depends on not understanding it. To these universal laws, we can add a national one, which we will call the Law of the Guy from Alfama, in honour of Gato Fedorento: whenever there are problems in a certain sector of the State, new macrostructures are created without substantially changing the elements that compose them and from which the problems arise. Examples can be found in Health, Internal Security, and information services, among others. Logistically, the essence of this law could be summarised as: “Put more money and more people into it, and things will be resolved.” This may sound dismissive, but part of the arguments in favour of regionalisation—more macrostructures—after the disaster that struck the West region do not invite sophistication. They suggest that the enemies of regionalisation are people from Lisbon, snobs, or even snobs from Lisbon. Instead of insinuations, let us be revolutionary: let us look at a regionalised country and draw conclusions. Just cross the border. With 17 autonomous regions—thus, 17 regional governments, 17 Regional Parliaments, and many autonomous bodies—Spain has a deep, almost federal regionalisation, one of the most advanced in Europe. The conclusions are many, but let us focus on two aspects that fuel the discussion in Portugal. First, development. Before regionalisation, the poorest territories in Spain were Extremadura and Andalusia. After 50 years of intense and continuous regionalisation, which regions are the poorest? Extremadura and Andalusia. In other words, regionalisation is not a silver bullet against regional asymmetries; it tends to exacerbate them, compromising territorial cohesion. Second, crisis management. Serious challenges to the safety of people and property—such as the disaster caused by DANA in Valencia in October 2024, which killed over 200 people—expose the vices and pitfalls of a regionalised territory. Coordination among agencies is difficult, and resource management is slow. The competition between the central government and regional governments, normal in a regionalised country, often descends into rivalries that hinder the State's action. Moreover, it can lead to the most abject political exploitation when the central and regional Executives are led by opposing parties in highly polarised contexts. There are cases where this second point has led to the first. Take covid-19, for instance. Within the strict scope of their competencies, regional governments adopted very different confinement policies, some lax and others restrictive, resulting in asymmetric layoffs, unemployment, and investment attraction, deepening economic imbalances. As confinements affected rights and freedoms, there were moments when Spain objectively had first, second, and third-class citizens. In summary, proposing to resolve Portugal's problems through regionalisation is essentially having faith in the Virgin. Doing so in the wake of a severe crisis is akin to believing that Americans would win in Iraq because they had a bomb that could smell curry. Written without the application of the new Orthographic Agreement.
On the night of the municipal elections, shortly after defeating Socialist Manuel Pizarro in the race to succeed Rui Moreira, Pedro Duarte presented himself as the new 'leader of the North', arguing that Porto's mayor 'must take on that role of hare and go a little ahead to drag the region along', because 'no one else has ...'
The Socialists won in Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Alentejo and the Algarve. The party considers Monday's elections a precursor to discussions on politico‑administrative regionalisation.
“There is, indeed, a very serious situation in healthcare that must be resolved,” the candidate supported by the PCP said on Monday. During a visit to the inland border area of the Alentejo, he praised the potential of regionalisation, accusing the PSD and PS of blocking it.
Near the border, in Campo Maior, António Filipe spoke about regional disparities, depopulation, the lack of essential public services and the ageing population.
Presidential candidate António Filipe visited inland Alentejo to argue in favour of regionalisation, saying the process was not carried out due to an agreement between the Socialist Party (PS) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), at a time when Marques Mendes was the PSD's parliamentary leader.
The President of the Republic promulgated the law that centralises, at a regional level, the operation of the SNS's out-of-hospital emergency services, organised through rotation of hospital teams.
A commentary questioning opponents of regionalisation and those who resist devolving power, asking who fears empowering citizens with greater regional representation.
