SDP votes against changes to Orders law and wants to “renew dialogue” in the future

The PSD will vote this Thursday against changes to the statutes of professional orders and will express indignation at the acceleration of the process in the specialty, declaring that it wants to “renew dialogue” on issues that are not the result of European impositions.

The diplomas will be subject to a final global vote this Thursday in the Assembly of the Republic, after the government warned at the end of September that the issue must be closed in parliament by October 13 to avoid losing funds from the budget. Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PRR).

“The PSD will never interfere with the receipt of funds, but this was complete incompetence on the part of the government, which knew the calendar and did not inform parliament,” said MP Clara Marques Mendes, speaking to reporters.

The vice-president of the Social Democratic Collegium said that due to the speeding up of the process, structures such as the Economic and Social Council (CES) or the Ombudsman were not heard, and there was no discussion of the specifics of the amendment proposals. , voting only, which was conducted in person until early Wednesday morning and ended with written voting instructions being sent.

“This did not allow any regulations or proposals for amendments to mature. In all conscience, neither party could say that they knew everything they voted on on Tuesday,” he criticized.

In view of this process, “the SDP expressed indignation, voted against it, but immediately announced that it would resume the process.”

Asked how the legislative process could be opened up to continue once it has been approved for consideration in Belém, the deputy promised to do “everything that is not an imposition of the European Union to continue the dialogue” with actors who have not been heard “and properly review all contributions”, without excluding legislative changes in the future.

“We were even more outraged that PS agreed that the process may have to be reviewed to make corrections,” he said.

The MP admitted that the direction of the PSD vote in some cases could have even been different if there had been “greater maturity” and called for a similar situation not to be repeated.”

“This is not worthy of the work that is being done in parliament, but the responsibility lies with the government,” he repeated.

At the end of September, the government warned Parliament of the “urgency of completing the legislative procedure” on professional orders through a letter addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic.

The Executive Director clarified that in order for the third and fourth requests for PRR payments to be approved by the European Commission this year, they must be submitted the day after ECOFIN approves the reprogramming of the plan, that is, the day of October 18.

“We therefore request the good offices of His Excellency the President of the Assembly of the Republic so that this process can be completed by the specified date,” the executive director appealed.

A day after this message, PS MP Joana Sa Pereira, who coordinated the working group on professional orders, sent a proposal to the parties on a work schedule, which included a final global vote on the diploma at the plenary meeting on October 13.

On July 19, the parliament generally approved the government’s proposed law to amend the statutes of professional orders, with only the PS voting for it.

The PSD, Chega and PCP voted against the text, while the Liberal Initiative, Bloc de Esquerda, Livre and PAN abstained, as did four Social Democratic deputies.

During the general debate, the government, through Minister Ana Catarina Mendes, said the proposal to change the statute of professional orders is “a reform that removes barriers to access to regulated professions” and ensures that trainees “receive rewards for their work.” , but the diploma was challenged by several orders.