Medina says Portugal has a “relevant role” in the economic governance debate.

The finance minister said in Brussels on Tuesday that Portugal is playing an “important role” in the debate already underway at Ecofin Council level on European economic governance reform, citing the “trust” the country has won.

Speaking at the end of the meeting of European Union finance ministers, Fernando Medina noted that “a topic that was a very important part” in the debate between the 27 and the European institutions “had to do with the issue of economic governance, a dossier that is on the agenda on Tuesday for a decision that is expected during this 2023.”

Recalling that “budgetary rules have already been suspended twice, the last time due to the pandemic, and have not yet been resumed,” the Minister of Finance stressed that there is now a debate around a new model of economic management, according to what rules and under what conditions.

In Medina’s words, it is “a debate in which the various member states have been widely involved and where Portugal has played an important role in terms of presenting its own position, but naturally also seeking to bring together the positions of various countries with different positions on this issue” .

“The role that Portugal is playing in this debate is relevant and highlighted by several countries and one of the main reasons is the progress that Portugal has made in terms of reducing our public debt, keeping the public deficit contained within what are the limits that the rules dictate, even if there are no rules,” he argued.

Medina stressed that “now this gives Portugal additional credibility in this dialogue and that it is especially important to discuss such an important issue for the governance of various countries.”

According to the minister, there are already “points of understanding”, especially regarding the “need for clearer, simpler and more transparent rules”, namely in relation to the deficit and the evolution of public debt.

“The commission has proposed an important set of innovations, and the assessment that needs to be known is whether this set of assessments will make it impossible to replace or supplement the most well-known system of rules regarding scarcity and evolution. public debt.

Fernando Medina acknowledged that this is a debate that could be lengthy given that this is a “heavy and demanding” dossier and on which “needs to be worked out, worked out and agreed upon among the various Member States”, trying to reconcile the different points of view between the 27.

“The time to decide on this dossier is the time it takes. This dossier is a heavy and demanding dossier in which different points of view and visions arise, in which the proposals brought to the table by the Commission are proposals that, in some areas, a high degree of innovation, a degree of technical complexity that needs to be better worked out and even understand,” he added.