The Minister of the Interior (MAI) defended this Monday that the mobility agreement within the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) “does not conflict” with the European visa regime.
According to Diário de Notícias, the European Commission has initiated an “infringement procedure” against Portugal over the new residence permits for citizens of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), which started in March.
“Of course, the national authorities have already informed the Commission [Europeia] and now there will be a dialogue to show Portugal’s position. From our point of view, [o acordo de mobilidade entre países lusófonos] is not contrary to European standards,” defended José Luís Carneiro in Matosinhos, Porto district, on the sidelines of the presentation of the results of Operation Verão Seguro.
According to the minister, the objective of improving mobility conditions between the states that are part of the CPLP is “as old” as the CPLP itself, founded on July 17, 1996.
“We have a position that has been known for a long time and the European Commission has also been informed since the beginning of this reflection,” he said.
Regarding the infringement procedure opened by the European Union against Portugal, the MAI stated that “the matter is being monitored by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for European Affairs”.
The European Commission considered that Portugal does not comply with European obligations “establishing a uniform model of residence permit for third-country nationals” and that the country does not comply with the Schengen Agreement on free movement.
“The CPLP Mobility Agreement provides for a residence permit that does not comply with the uniform format laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002. In addition, both residence permits and long-stay visas are issued for the purpose of seeking employment by nationals of CPLP states do not allow their holders to travel within the Schengen area,” according to Commission information accessed by the Lusa agency.
Portugal has already been notified of the infringement procedure and now has two months to respond to the letter and correct the gaps identified by the Commission.
Since March, Portugal has been operating a new Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) portal that allows immigrants from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) with ongoing processes to automatically obtain a residence permit until December 31, 2022.
Since then, more than 154,000 Portuguese-speaking immigrants have applied for residence permits through the ‘CPLP portal’, with the document having already been issued to more than 140,000, according to the SEF.
This security service indicates that Brazilian nationals represent 74.5% of CPLP residence permit applications, followed by citizens of Angola with 9.6%, São Tomé and Principe with 6.4% and Cape Verde with 4.4%.
In addition to Portugal, CPLP includes Cape Verde, Brazil, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola and Mozambique.
Source: DN
