“In 2024 I can guarantee, I cannot tell you the figures yet because we have not yet met with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities, that the decentralization financing fund will increase again,” said Ana Abrunhosa at the closing of the XXVI ANMP congress that took place in Seixal, in the district of Setúbal.
The negotiations will continue until the conclusion of the state budget, he said.
However, the government official emphasized that financial transfers to local governments have not increased solely as a result of decentralization or because of it.
Since 2015, he added, transfers have increased by 36%.
The holder of the Territorial Cohesion portfolio admitted that there is no doubt that decentralization is “one of the biggest administrative reforms of recent decades”.
“We are sure that it will help parishes, municipalities, inter-municipal communities and regions to play a more interventionist role in defining public policies, in the development objectives they propose and in the services they provide to the population,” stressed he.
The aim of the reform is to give “greater autonomy, participation, decision-making power and power to solve people’s problems,” he stressed.
“We have no doubt that Portugal is profoundly changing the relationship between central government and local authorities,” he stressed.
But, he stressed, an administrative reform such as that currently being implemented is “a long road ahead” and involves significant progress, sometimes against the clock.
“Sometimes not at the speed we want, but making a path and removing rocks from the path,” he said.
Ana Abrunhosa revealed that decentralization “has exposed injustices and problems” that will now be corrected.
But, he stressed, there can be no effective decentralization without adequate funding to fulfill the new powers.
Regarding the transfer of skills, the Minister recalled that it is not the role of the government to monitor the skills it transfers.
“It is not the role of the government to ask for maps and maps and maps, it is not the role of the government to do this inspection. Therefore, an entity must be created to fulfill this role, and it is currently in the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) but we all somehow feel that it needs to be strengthened,” he stressed.
Source: DN
