The President of the Republic vetoed changes to the provisions of the orders of engineers and architects

This Thursday, the President of the Republic vetoed two parliamentary decrees amending the statutes of the Order of Engineers and the Order of Architects, and also promulgated a decree amending the statutes of the Order of Pharmacists.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced these decisions in three notes published on the official website of the President of the Republic on the Internet.

These three decrees are part of a set of changes to the statutes of professional orders approved by the Assembly of the Republic on October 13.

In a note to the decree amending the Statute of the Order of Architects, the head of state states that he decided to veto it after hearing the relevant chairman, since he believes that “the combined regime in force, specific to the profession and sharing actions (with other professions) gives rise to ambiguity and appear to be incompatible with the professional practice of architecture.”

According to the President of the Republic, the wording of the decree leaves “doubts as to whether activities specific to a profession (the development and evaluation of projects, studies and architectural plans) can be carried out by people who do not have prior professional training and are not subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Order.”

“On a serious note, some standards seem to be contrary to the most recent public policies, which value architectural practice as a transformer of public heritage and capable of meeting the growing needs of our society,” criticizes Marcelo Rebelo de Souza in a letter addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, on This veto is published in the appendix.

“Thus, regardless of the intention already adopted by the legislator to revise the Statutes of Professional Orders, it is clear that in the case of the Statute of the Order of Architects, its adoption would be detrimental to the public interest and would even have effects contrary to those intended by the current reform,” he adds.

In a note to the decree amending the Statute of the Order of Engineers, which was also vetoed after hearing the President concerned, the President of the Republic points to “the way in which engineering acts and their corresponding issues are dealt with, as well as the lack of definition of powers that seems to arise from law,” which, in his opinion, “is contrary to the public interest and does not ensure the safety of people and property, as well as the (necessary) confidence in the engineering actions of properly qualified specialists.”

“In fact, it is not enough to have an engineering degree to be eligible to take on the technical leadership of a more complex project, so completing engineering certificates in accordance with professional experience is fundamental to the confidence of diploma recipients. engineering services,” he states.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic regarding this veto, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argues that “The Order of Engineers, as holder of powers of public power which can never be used to restrict competition or access to the professions, is particularly well placed to regulate these matters ” and indicates that “however, the decree refers for subsequent regulation to the issues of determining engineering acts and their corresponding gradation, organization by specialty and the procedure for assigning the title of specialist.” awarded, which ensures government approval.”

According to the head of state, “this decision appears to be excessive interference by the guardianship authorities in the autonomy of the orders and is less compatible with public interests.”

In justifying both vetoes, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasizes that he took this decision “without prejudice to the fulfillment of the obligations of the Portuguese State to the European Union under the Program for Recovery and Resilience (PRR), which are not called into question, and taking into account the difficulties inherent in the legislative process,” which led to the approval of these decrees.

Regarding the changes he promulgated in the Statute of the Order of Pharmacists, after hearing the relevant President, the President of the Republic draws attention “to the need, within the framework of a possible new legislative process, to amend the statutes already previously announced by the legislator when he approved this decree in the final global vote, correct some aspects.”

According to Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, it is necessary to correct “aspects that can cause entropy towards the recipients of services, by ensuring, on the one hand, that health activities are always carried out by qualified professionals, and on the other hand, ensuring the necessary complementarity and coherence of health activities in a manner that improves the delivery of health care and the effectiveness of the associated system.”