Maria Luis Albuquerque: “First you have to think that you are the candidate from Portugal”

Incoming Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque has called for support for Portugal’s candidates for European institutions and accused the previous government of failing to provide her with political support for the leadership position in 2021.

María Luis Albuquerque was a guest speaker at the final dinner-conference of the PSD Summer University, a youth political training initiative in which she is participating for the fourth time.

It was the former ruler’s first public appearance since Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced that Portugal would put her name forward for the post of European Commissioner, a choice that was criticized by the entire left, including several PS figures with whom they associated the former ruler with the austerity period and the troika.

“If there is one thing our country should commit to, it is to support the Portuguese so that they take on more important positions in the European institutions (…) We must first think about who the Portuguese candidate is, and then think about whether it is the Portuguese candidate. The candidate of a party that, whether it is in government or not, the Portuguese candidate is the first,” defended Maria Luis Albuquerque today.

In this regard, he cited his personal example of running for the post of chairman of the European Markets Supervisory Authority in 2021 and ultimately losing when, after a lengthy selection process, the choice fell to three candidates.

“An Italian, a German and a Portuguese. The impasse lasted more than six months because Italy and Germany had a blocking minority. In these circumstances, the solution is often to choose a third candidate. To achieve this, you need political support, and I did not have it,” he said, implicitly criticizing the previous PS leader, led by António Costa, the future president of the European Council.

Asked by one of the Summer University “students” whether she had a preference for the position she would hold in the future European Commission, she answered in the affirmative: “Yes, but I am not going to share it,” she said.

Some of the participants praised María Luis Albuquerque’s work in the government of Pedro Passos Coelho from 2011 to 2015, to whom the former ruler left words of praise.

“I would say that the country has recognized Pedro Passos Coelho: we won the elections in 2015,” he said in response, which drew thunderous applause from the audience.

The former ruler also believed that the “toughest, most unpopular” measures, but “most necessary for recovery” during the “troika” period, were taken before he took over financial management in 2013.

“2012 was a ‘terrible year,'” he admitted.

Regarding the period when he was part of Passos Coelho’s government, he claimed that the leader “always gave priority to what was best for Portugal”, even if it was not electorally advantageous.

“Over the years I’ve gotten used to looking at the decisions I’ve made in terms of what I knew at the time. I get the EuroMillions right every Friday after 7pm, before I never got it right,” he joked.

After an initial speech in which she listed the challenges facing the European Union in areas such as the capital market, ageing or defence, it was at the stage of responding to youth that María Luis Albuquerque left some more concrete proposals, such as the creation of a portal that groups together opportunities for young people in the European institutions, or a structure to help them in the application process.

The future commissioner praised the European Commission President’s goal of achieving gender parity in her executive branch, although she acknowledged that national figures appear to be holding her back, and offered some advice.

“Men, don’t discuss quotas, think about your future,” he said, emphasizing that women already make up the majority in universities.

Urging two key challenges for the European Union, she chose the ability to prevent crises rather than simply react to them and the need to act as a bloc, using the sporting example.

“At the last Olympic Games, if you count the 27 member countries in total, Europe had 309 medals, more than the United States and China combined,” he stressed.