Territorial Unity Minister Ana Abruñosa confirmed this Wednesday that proposals for two new NUTS IIs have been approved by Brussels and are awaiting publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
“I confirm that they [a da Península de Setúbal e a do Oeste e Vale do Tejo] for publication in the Official Journal of the Communities and, therefore, they are approved,” Ana Abruñosa told Lusa after the signing of agreements on the transfer of management of state property to local authorities as part of the decentralization of competencies.
The ceremony took place as part of the “Closer Government” program, which takes place from Wednesday to Thursday in the Castelo Branco region, and involved more than 40 initiatives with the participation of representatives of the executive branch.
In December 2021, Prime Minister António Costa announced that the government would submit to Brussels a proposal for the creation of two new nomenclatures of territorial units for statistical purposes (NUTS) II: the Setúbal peninsula and the western part and the Tagus valley, taking advantage of the calendar, before February 1, 2022 to change the statistical units in Eurostat.
“The government understands that a proposal must be submitted for the creation of two new NUTS II, in the Setubal peninsula and in the west and in the Tagus valley,” because “they meet the demographic criteria that allow them to become autonomous,” he said during the meeting. Congress of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP).
Parliament approved on December 22, in a final global vote, a charter for, among other things, the creation of the Inter-Municipal Communities (CIM) of Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula, consisting respectively of the municipalities in the north and south. Tejo from the current Lisbon Capital Region (AML) without compromising the maintenance of the AML.
The new law was approved with votes for PS, PCP, BE and Livre and with abstentions from PSD, Chega, Liberal Initiative and PAN, as well as Socialist deputies Pedro do Carmo, Norberto Patiño and Capoulas Santos.
The change in the model of administrative organization of the territory at the level of intermunicipalities was part of the NUTS revision process in order to provide the covered regions with greater access to public funds.
This led to the creation of the NUTS II and NUTS III sub-regions in the Setúbal peninsula, which thus ceased to be included in the AML in terms of access to public funds, and also to the creation of CIM Oeste, Leziria. do Tejo and Médio Tejo (integrated in the area of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo) as NUTS II.
The three CIMs of Leziria do Tejo, Medio Tejo and Oeste are dependent on CCDR Lisbon and Vale do Tejo for spatial planning but are part of CCDR Centro (OesteCIM and CIMT) and Alentejo (CIMLT) for EU funds.
This Wednesday, the Minister of Territorial Unity stressed that “when moving, Serta and Vila de Rei will go to the intermunicipal community of Beira Baixa.”
“Therefore, I would say that the consolidation of the territory here in Beira Baixa is closer to the figure of the district. This is what I consider very positive,” he said.
However, Ana Abruñosa emphasized that these two municipalities, which were part of the inter-municipal community of Medio Tejo, “by law will retain contracts with Medio Tejo.”
“In Portugal in 2030, Serta decided to move to Beira Baixa and Vila de Rei informed us that she would like to stay in the Middle Tagus and therefore we will adopt legal instruments to resolve such situations,” he said.
Regarding the Setúbal Peninsula, the Minister explained that it will now become CIM.
“What does it mean? This means that INE [Instituto Nacional de Estatística] is already starting to produce statistical information that will be important in planning funds for the community structure after 2030, without the classification of regions, and without statistics it would be impossible to know whether the Setubal peninsula in the period after 2030 will be a convergence or a developed region,” he added.
However, according to the minister, so far the indicators show “that the likelihood that this will be a convergence region, and therefore, if confirmed, is not only CIM [NUTS III] as it will also be NUTS II and may have a stand-alone regional program.”
Ana Abruñosa added that since the Lisbon metropolitan area remains, by law “it will have two NUTS IIIs”. [CIM da Grande Lisboa e CIM da Península de Setúbal] and may have two regional programs.”
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.