Finance Minister Fernando Medina said this Wednesday that the European Union’s eastward enlargement is a challenge for Portugal, mainly due to potential changes in cohesion fund allocations.
Fernando Medina spoke this Wednesday at the annual congress of the Order of Economists entitled “Portugal and the challenges of modern times: the role of economists and managers” at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
“We must start preparing for what the future of the country will be in the context of European Union (EU) enlargement,” the official said, defending the importance of creating a fund to structure investments beyond 2026, which was announced during the presentation of the State Budget 2024 ( OE2024).
For Medina, this “represents one of the main problems on which the country has not reflected sufficiently and deeply” in the face of “an enlargement process which, if completed more quickly than other enlargement processes, will change the enlargement map very significantly.” European Union”.
“From geopolitical issues, in which enlargement to the east will naturally strengthen the eastern bias of the European Union, but above all in terms of all managerial and financial instruments at Union level,” he said.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer considered that it could be counted on “that the thrifty will continue to be thrifty and that resistance to a change in the general framework of the rules of financing will obviously present great difficulty.”
“The expected direct impact of the expansion will immediately force Portugal to change its position among countries, especially those that benefit significantly from cohesion policy funds,” he warned.
Fernando Medina emphasized that “only arithmetically, Portugal will quickly take first place among the richest countries of the enlarged Union.”
According to the official, the expansion process will be associated with a “very” significant integration of the population, while in general “with incomes significantly below the Union average.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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