Costa says that in the regions he has reached the limit and that decentralization honors April 25

The Prime Minister said this Wednesday that his government has reached the constitutional limit of integration at the “regional level” and that the completion of the decentralization process is the best tribute to the 50th anniversary of April 25.

These positions were defended by António Costa at the end of the launch ceremony of the program for the construction, restoration and rehabilitation of school facilities, a plan that was the subject of an agreement between the government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP). as part of the process of decentralization of skills.

The program, according to data presented by the Minister of Territorial Cohesion Ana Abrunhosa, will involve 451 second and third cycle schools and secondary education by 2033, with an investment estimated at 1.730 million euros.

The ceremony was attended by Ministers of Finance (Fernando Medina), Ministers of Education (João Costa) and Presidents (Mariana Vieira da Silva), as well as Ana Abrunhos and dozens of mayors, with special attention to the President of the ANMP (Luisa Salgueiro). ), from Amadora (Carla Tavares), Gaya (Eduardo Vitor Rodriguez) or Cascais (Carlos Carreiras).

“It was difficult to find a better way to mark the 50th anniversary on April 25 than to complete this decentralization process. This process has deepened democratic local government the most since its creation in 1976,” said António Costa at the outset. your intervention.

The Prime Minister then mentioned that 22 new competencies had been transferred to local authorities, 19 of them without any corresponding problems, but three of them remained in the final stage after “very demanding” negotiation processes: social action, education and health.”

“What we achieved was very important not only for the reform of the state, but, above all, for serving the population. This process was very important because it allowed us to X-ray the area of ​​social action, health and education that allows this decentralization process to become more than just a transfer of skills,” said the executive leader.

According to António Costa, “the country can now be provided with conditions for intervention financing that did not exist before, because, for example, in the course of social action it was discovered that the intervention criteria were not objective and fair” between different areas of the country.

“We found that there was a huge underfunding in healthcare that needed to be addressed so that skills could be decentralized. the need for urgent and priority intervention, especially in second and third cycle schools, as well as in secondary schools, which were not the target of the Parque Escolar intervention,” he noted.

In his speech, the Prime Minister also said that his government has taken steps “towards democratization of the Committees for Coordination of Regional Development (CCDR) and that decentralization would not be complete if progress was not made at the regional level as well.”

At the same time, the head of the executive branch noted that in the country “there are different views” on the implementation of the regional development process.”

“We have gone as far as we can within the current constitutional and political framework. CCDRs are no longer government agencies, they have become public institutions; their presidents were no longer elected by the government and began to be elected by the mayors of their respective regions. “, he emphasized.

According to António Costa, “the future will tell” whether CCDR representatives will continue to be appointed “indirectly through mayors or whether they will be directly elected by citizens.”

“One thing is for sure. This move changed the relationship between the CCDR and the government, and between the CCDR and the mayors. The CCDR was to be accountable to the government. Now they must be accountable to those who elect them,” he added.

Previously, the President of the ANMP and the Municipal Council of Matosinhos sought to leave a guarantee that local authorities “will not fail” in the implementation of school rehabilitation projects, in her speech she praised the Minister Ana Abrunhosa and, above all, the “decentralization” action of the government over the past two years.

Ana Abruñosa underlined the “special sensitivity” of the Minister of Finance, who was President of the Lisbon Chamber, to the “complex” negotiation processes that the government conducted with municipalities regarding the transfer of powers.

“I often seem to be delivering good news, but the truth is that I have always had the support of the finance minister,” he said in a speech defending the current process of decentralization of powers. must be deepened and consolidated.”

In her first speech at the meeting, Amadora Mayor Carla Tavares noted that the launch of the school rehabilitation program represents “a landmark day for mayors and Portuguese democracy.”