Aguiar-Branko brought MPs and MEPs together to seek consensus

This Thursday, the President of the Assembly of the Republic brought together several newly elected Portuguese MEPs and presidents of parliamentary committees to promote joint work, stressing the importance of reaching consensus on issues of national interest.

“Portugal needs Europe, 70% of our laws come from European institutions, 80% of our public investments come from public funds, many of our problems can no longer be solved on a national scale alone, and many of our opportunities can no longer be taken advantage of if we rely only on ourselves. That is why it seemed to me that it would be perfectly reasonable for the Assembly of the Republic and the Portuguese MEPs to sit at the same table,” said José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.

The Speaker of Parliament said he had promoted this “unprecedented initiative” to “motivate good working relations and open new bridges in favour of Portugal in Europe and Europe in Portugal.”

In a brief initial speech, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco stressed that of the 21 Portuguese MEPs elected last month, 19 are new, but that 11 have already held parliamentary or government positions in the country, gaining experience in the Assembly of the Republic.

At the same time, he continued, the Portuguese parliament has also learned from the “best practices” of the European Parliament, with Aguiar-Branco citing as an example the new system that strips MPs of their seats in the hemisphere when they overstep their bounds in speaking time.

The Social Democrat noted that the newly elected MEPs are very different “in terms of age, geographical origin, personal path and life horizons and, of course, in terms of their worldview and ideological position.”

“I have no desire, and we certainly have no intention, to suppress, soften or minimize the doctrinal differences between everyone. They exist, they are healthy and they very clearly express the diversity of positions in Portuguese society. But despite the differences, we can and must also work together in the interests of what is sometimes the national interest, and there are moments or topics in which this interest prevails over the supporters, whether at national or European level,” he believes.

At a time when “threats to democracy and freedom are once again at the forefront of concerns for the people and political leaders,” the parliamentary president defended issues such as the common security and defence policy, possible treaty revisions arising from the potential enlargement of the European Union, and reviews and adjustments to the multiannual financial framework as issues “that require concerted efforts by different political groups.”

“And that is why I myself have spoken a lot about the need to reach consensus. And I am speaking today, also here, again. What we want to do today is to create an operational consensus, an institutional and working relationship that combines efforts to also benefit the country,” he stressed.

Aguiar-Branco recalled that Europe is “the work of many hands: socialists, Christian democrats, liberals, conservatives, Marxists, ecologists, from different geographies, paths and identities.”

“The quality and example that each person brings to his or her mandate represent an added value in recognising the competence of Portugal’s participation in shaping the European will for the benefit of Europe and Portugal,” he concluded.

Among the MEPs who took part in the meeting were the socialists Marta Temido, Ana Catarina Mendes and Francisco Assis, elected by the Democratic Alliance (AD, coalition SDS/SDS-PP/PPM), Sebastião Bugalho, Lídia Pereira and Ana Miguel Pedro, “number one” Chega António Tanger Corrêa, the liberal Ana Martins, the bloc member Catarina Martins and the communist João Oliveira, among others.