Estela Silva / Lusa
The new president of ANMP, Pedro Pimpão, accompanied by the former president, Luísa Salgueiro
The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) considers that regionalization is key to ending an “unequal and unbalanced” country, making national interests compatible with those of the various territories. Pedro Pimpão is the new president of the entity.
The ANMP, which elected this Saturday the social democrat Pedro Pimpão As the new president, he claims to have a solution to resolve inequalities in Portugal: regionalize.
“ANMP is aware of the difficulty of the regionalization process, but the years that have passed since the April Revolution allow us to conclude that, Without the creation of administrative regions, we will remain an unequal and unbalanced country“, the mayors wrote in the document Autonomy and Decentralization, presented at the XXVII Congress of the ANMP.
“These imbalances will only be overcome with public policies appropriate to the different territories”they add, cited by Lusa.
What are the steps to take?
The ANMP considers that a national regional development policy “must be articulated with all agents in the territory, so that, in decision-making processes, the interests of the country are compatible with the diverse interests of its various territories and regions”.
“Only administrative regions will be able to play this role, effectively and efficiently fulfilling the iindispensable articulation of transversal policies”, defend the municipalities, in the document presented at the congress that began today and ends on Sunday in Viana do Castelo.
ANMP therefore called for “compliance with the constitutional text, creating administrative regions” to provide “more consistent public policies”, favor “the competitive capacity of territories”, encourage “the creation of polarizing centers of growth”.
The administrative regions will also allow “political dialectic processes”, creating “additional factors of progress and development”, according to the mayors.
For ANMP, administrative regions are essential for territorial reorganization and for “an effective administrative reform”allowing “territorial policies closer to citizens and the deepening of administrative decentralization”.
“Administrative decentralization […] it can and should be carried out for administrative regions in those situations in which the exercise of powers requires a larger territorial dimension, in this case, a regional dimension”, he indicated.
Local authorities consider that the municipal scale is often insufficient “to provide consistency to some of the public policies that require a larger territorial structure”.
The document notes that regionalization does not dispense with the new “dress” given to the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR), with their conversion into public institutes with a special regime and regional scope, as they are part of the indirect administration of the State, “subject to the supervision and supervision of the Government”
The CCDR are, therefore, not territorial entities endowed “with autonomy and with bodies directly elected by the populations”.
Municipalities also consider the advantage of regionalization to be bringing decision centers closer to people“with the deepening of democracy and the strengthening of citizenship, legitimizing the members of bodies through popular vote and being accountable to the populations”.
Portugal: an extremely centralized country
The ANMP recalls that Portugal “continues to be extremely centralized” and, in 2024, the weight of local government revenue in total public administration was 12.6% in Portugal, pointing “to a degree of decentralization much lower than that of the Euro Zone (21.2%)”.
“This is an impressive gap and we have to change it, since the Centralism fueled the separation between the State and the territoriesworsening structural inequalities”, he warned.
The depopulation of the interior, the reduction in the presence of public services in low-density areas, the concentration of investment in large urban centers and the weak regional economic dynamics are, for the ANMP, “clear signs of a dysfunctional territorial organization”.
More skills? More money
In his first statements to journalists as president of ANMP, Pedro Pimpão highlighted a law on local finance (LFL), with the “strengthening of financial mechanisms that municipalities have at their disposal to face increased responsibilities”.
“We, Portuguese municipalities, with our level of responsibility, are available to analyze with the Government new areas in which we assume responsibilities”, said the also mayor of Pombal.
The ANMP demands that the monitoring committees that are foreseen in this decentralization process “effectively function” and evaluate the level of competences and the costs of these responsibilities, “in the sense of having a permanent annual process of review and update the values associated with each competency”.
Call for an increase in mayors’ salaries
Pedro Pimpão defended increases in the salaries of mayors and municipal employees, recognizing, however, that it is a sensitive topic for ordinary citizens.
“Naturally, this is an issue that is sensitive to ordinary citizens, but I think it is an issue that also needs to be analyzed, because mayors and workers in our councils also deserve to have remuneration compatible with their responsibilities”, he said, speaking to journalists.
“We also need to retain talent in our cameras. And, for that, they also deserved to see their careers valued and also fairer, more transparent evaluation systems that valued merit”, he stated.
“I have no problem saying that. It’s not a flag, it’s not a priority, but it’s also an area that must be taken into account”, he highlighted.
With the ANMP now led by Pedro Pimpão, the vice-presidency was assumed by Nuno Piteira Lopes (president of Cascais City Council, PSD) and Ana Abrunhosa (President of the Chamber of Coimbra, PS).
