This Wednesday, the meeting of the Council of State for European Funds, with the participation of European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira as a guest, began at 11:10 am at the Cidadela Palace in Cascais with five absentees.
Former head of state Anibal Cavaco Silva, President of the Madeira Regional Government Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Constitutional Court Joao Caupers and advisers António Damasio and Carlos Cesar will not attend the meeting, a government source said. post of President of the Republic.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, convened his political advisory body to review European funds in Portugal and invited European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, who has a portfolio of cohesion and reforms, to attend this meeting announced the day before.
The meeting is also attended by Minister of Administration Mariana Vieira da Silva, who is responsible for coordinating the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
In the current economic conditions, the President of the Republic confirmed the message that the government cannot waste European funds, with a focus on PRR, and chose 2023 as a “decisive year”, taking into account the election cycle until 2026: European, municipal, presidential and legislative.
This is the 28th meeting of the Council of State chaired by Marcelo Rebelo de Souza since he took office as President of the Republic in March 2016.
The previous one took place three and a half months ago, on December 13, and was dedicated to the enlargement process and financial and economic reforms of the European Union.
As President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa innovated by inviting national and foreign figures to meetings of his political advisory body and making them more frequent.
Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Secretary General of the Council of State have already attended meetings of the Council of State, including NATO General Jens Stoltenberg.
This body, headed by the President of the Republic, includes persons holding the positions of the Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman, the chairmen of regional governments and former Presidents of the Republic.
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, it also consists of five citizens appointed by the Head of State for a period corresponding to their term of office, and five citizens elected by the Assembly of the Republic in accordance with the principle of proportional representation for a period corresponding to the duration of the legislature.
At the start of his second term, in March 2021, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza appointed the writer Lydia Jorge as a member of the Council of State and reappointed four members of the Council: former CDS-PP leader António Lobo Xavier, former PSD President Luis Marquez Méndez, President of Champalimo. Foundation, Leonor Beleza and neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.
In turn, following the January 2022 legislative elections, the Assembly of the Republic elected Carlos César, Manuel Alegre and Antonio Sampaio da Novoa, nominated by the PS, and Francisco Pinto Balseman and Miguel Cadille, nominated by the PSD, to the Council of State. .
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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