The President of the Republic decided to return TAP’s privatization diploma to the government, requesting clarification on three aspects that he considers essential: the ability of the state to monitor and intervene in a strategic company like TAP; the issue of selling or acquiring assets even before privatization; the transparency of the entire operation.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s veto was announced in a note published on the presidency’s website on Friday.
However, the Prime Minister has already responded. António Costa stressed in a note to the media that he “takes note of the concerns” of the head of state, which will be “duly taken into consideration”.
The President of the Republic disputed that the law on the reprivatization decree of TAP is silent on the role of the state in administrative decisions and called for transparency regarding the negotiations preceding the preparation of the specifications.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, António Costa, and published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic on the Internet, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa states that “additional clarifications were requested from the government” on these two aspects and also on the sale or acquisition of assets before sale.
“Unfortunately, the answers came yesterday [quinta-feira] received has not enabled us to fully clarify three aspects that I consider essential”Regrets the Head of State, who insists that the government clarify “these three specific but crucial issues” of the legal decree, which in his opinion “can be clarified without too much delay, that is to say without prejudice to the urgency of the legal acts ”. process”.
First of all, the President of the Republic emphasizes the importance of “the future effective monitoring and intervention capacity of the State in a strategic company like TAP” and points out that “allowing the sale of any percentage above 51%” of the company, the legal decree “does not expressly provide or allow for a role for the state in subsequent administrative decisions”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa secondly questions the fact that “the diploma admits that TAP, even before the decision to sell, can sell or acquire any type of assets, without any other minimum precision or criteria, which goes well beyond the intended integration of Portugal into TAP SA”.
Thirdly, the Head of State criticizes the Decree-Law because it “does not guarantee total transparency at a stage of contacts prior to drawing up the specifications, that is to say of the rules that will guide the choice of the final buyer, and these at least It is clear that these will not be binding negotiations and that these contacts will be recorded.”
According to him, this is “fundamental to guarantee proof of complete exemption from the procedures, if at a later stage the issue of the above-mentioned transparency of the process and the choice of the buyer arises”.
For the President of the Republic, the diploma raises “several doubts and reluctance in view of the desired maximum transparency of the process.”
“I understand that maximum transparency must be ensured throughout the process leading to a decision to sell control of the company”he emphasizes.
When the government announced the approval of this decree-law in the Council of Ministers on September 28, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that he wanted to see whether “the legal conditions for securing the position of the State” in the reprivatization of TAP were included in the diploma he would receive, or that they would be shipped according to specifications.
“It is one thing to be included in the law, to have the force of law, it is more durable, it is stronger. It is another thing to be included in a set of administrative rules”the President of the Republic told journalists in Oeiras, Lisbon district.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that the legal decree establishing the conditions for the reprivatization of TAP “will probably be the only legal diploma based on the choice that will be made”.
Presenting the decree, Finance Minister Fernando Medina announced that the government plans to sell at least 51% of TAP’s capital, “this is the minimum percentage”.
As for the specifications, the minister has expressed his intention to submit them to the Council of Ministers at the end of this year, or at the latest early next year.
A week earlier, when asked if he had any objection to a possible total reprivatization of TAP, which was admitted in parliament by the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic replied: “If this is the best solution from the Portuguese point of view, economically, financially is the best solution.”
“It will be said: but the state must have intervention instruments. It is possible to privatize with intervention instruments. Therefore, it depends on the conditions for privatization,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added on the sidelines in New York. of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
According to the President of the Republic, “Each state takes care to guarantee minimum monitoring and control conditions”, but asked: “Is this compatible with full privatization? It may or may not be so. We will see the conditions.”
TAP posted a record profit of 203.5 million euros in the first nine months of the year and 180.5 million euros in the third quarter, according to information released by the airline on Tuesday.
When asked whether these results make it more difficult to explain to the Portuguese the need to privatize the airline, João Galamba dismissed the idea and opined that “it only means that the investment that the Portuguese have made in TAP, bears fruit.”
Source: DN
