Estela Silva / EPA
Luis Montenegro
New year, new mindset. With “justified reasons to face the future with hope and confidence”, writes the prime minister.
To Luís Montenegro, the first message for 2026 begins with an anniversary: the 40th anniversary of – European Economic Community.
Four decades later, and after an “unprecedented transformation and reformism in the contemporary history of our country”, he believes, the Portuguese have “justified reasons to face the future with hope e trust”.
In the traditional opinion article published by the prime minister in today’s edition of , Montenegro wrote that “there is no need to be afraid” do .
The PSD president and prime minister defended the labor reform, proposed by the PSD/CDS-PP Government and contested by the unions, as fundamental to achieving “better jobs and better wages”.
The proposal provides for the simplification of dismissals in medium-sized companies, the end of restrictions on ‘outsourcing’ in the event of dismissal, changes to the strike law and greater difficulties in reintegrating workers after unlawful dismissal.
“Less taxes, more simplification of processes and more labor flexibility are prerequisites for better jobs and better salaries. They are essential for decent wages!“, defended the prime minister.
The minimum wage rose today to . The Government established a new target to cover the entire legislature, aiming for the minimum guaranteed salary to reach 1,100 euros gross per month in 2029.
CGTP-IN announced a demonstration for January 13th, in Lisbon, as part of the actions to fight against the labor package, which it described as an “assault on rights and working conditions”, after the one on December 11th.
Returning to “Cristiano Ronaldo” mentalitywhich he had mentioned in , Montenegro highlighted that one should not “sleep in the shade of the banana tree”. It supports a mentality that has “a spirit of work, of encouraging the team, of setting an example, of defending the country and showing that we are as good or better than others”.
“Economic competitiveness and the robust and lasting growth of the economy are fundamental to guaranteeing the social state and the success of public policies”, argued Montenegro, in the article.
“A more competitive and productive country generates more and better jobs, guarantees better wages and places us, as in 2024, in the vanguard of income appreciation of workers in the OECD”, added the prime minister.
At the beginning of December, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted that the growth of the Portuguese economy will accelerate in 2026, going from 1.9% in 2025 to 2.2%, followed by a slowdown in 2027 to 1.8%.
Luís Montenegro assured that the Government will work with young people, emigrants, pensioners, the middle class, public employees, Health, housing, education in mind, without forgetting regulated immigration.
“For all of this, you need courage, commitment and ambition. May everyone do their partwith responsibility and commitment. Without fear of dreaming about the bestinstead of accepting enough”, reinforced the prime minister.
On Wednesday, in a New Year’s message recorded on video and on the PSD’s social media, Montenegro promised to fulfill a program of transformations in health, education, housing and transport over the next three and a half years, which rules out the possibility of early legislative elections.
In a context where there is no absolute majority in parliament, the prime minister admitted that it is necessary to act “with courage, with the capacity for political initiative, with the capacity for dialogue, with democratic humility”.
