Born in 1961, a socialist, as president of Portugal he applied a program to relaunch the capital Lisbon and the nation. He resigned in November 2023 attributable to a number of scandals involving his authorities, attributable to alleged irregularities in concessions associated to lithium mines and inexperienced hydrogen initiatives.
The eagerness for puzzles will likely be helpful for Antonio Costa, the previous Prime Minister of Portugal and the brand new President of the European Council, who will now depend on his greatest qualities, resembling pragmatism and wonderful negotiation abilities, to have the ability to keep meet the. the sensitivities of the Heads of State and authorities of the Previous Area. Born in 1961, socialist, Antonio Costa, started his political profession at a really younger age, enrolling at simply 14 years of age within the Juventude Socialista, the youth group of the Socialist Social gathering, when Portugal had simply skilled the Carnation Revolution and the return to democracy. after the dictatorship of the Estado Novo which lasted greater than 40 years.
The origin and the start
Costa is the son of a militant communist author who was born in Mozambique to Catholic dad and mom from Goa, the traditional Portuguese colony in India, and to Maria Antonia Palla, one in all Portugal’s first feminine journalists. Metropolis councilor of Lisbon in 1983, in 1993 he was a candidate for the municipal elections of Loures, a city within the hinterland of the Portuguese capital. Costa misplaced the elections by just a few dozen votes, however a well-known alternative remained that reveals the pragmatic character that at all times accompanied him in politics: he organized a race between a donkey and a Ferrari on one of many principal entry roads to the town to to make clear. the connection issues with Lisbon. The result’s that the donkey received. Nevertheless, the defeat didn’t have an effect on his political profession: in 1995 he joined the federal government of Antonio Guterres, who’s now the Secretary Basic of the UN, as Undersecretary for relations with the Parliament. In 2004 he turned a Member of the European Parliament and vice-president of the European Parliament, returning to his residence nation the next 12 months to turn into Minister of the Inside within the Socrates authorities. In 2007 he was elected mayor of Lisbon, the place he remained in workplace for eight years, relaunching the town.
additionally learn
European Consiglio: his title proper to von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas
Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa in 2013 – ©Getty
Relaunch of Portugal
He turned prime minister after the 2015 elections, following the legacy of saving a rustic from chapter because of an 83 billion euro mortgage from the EU, the IMF and the ECB that was positioned underneath post-programme surveillance as a result of the money owed had not but been repaid. He avoids the battle with Europe and decides to proceed on the trail of investments, introducing a number of the social protections that had been canceled earlier than, elevating salaries and pensions, however with out departing from the austerity imposed by the Troika in power. The financial system advantages from this: the general public debt of Lisbon’s GDP fell throughout his years in authorities from 131.2% in 2015 to 99.1% in 2023 and the common annual GDP development stood at +1.2%. Nevertheless, in November 2023, Costa resigned following an investigation concentrating on a number of members of his authorities over alleged irregularities in concessions associated to lithium mines and inexperienced hydrogen initiatives. An investigation that reveals, nonetheless, some errors, even obvious ones, ranging from the confusion made by the investigators between Prime Minister Costa and one in all his ministers of the identical title, the top of the Ministry of Financial system António Costa Silva. Nevertheless, he confirmed that he was resigning, declaring himself “not involved with the details”. Nevertheless, its consensus within the nation is nearly intact: within the current European elections the socialists received 32.08% of the votes, changing into the primary occasion of the nation forward of the Democratic Alliance of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
deep evaluation
Kaja Kallas, who’s the brand new Excessive Consultant for EU international coverage
Antonio Costa on the assembly “Europe and the long run: the brand new legislature”, organized in Lisbon on 18 June 2024 – © Getty
Earth
Who will likely be subsequent to hitch the European Union?
Within the historical past of the EU there have been seven enlargements. On this approach, from the 6 authentic international locations, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, we arrived at a union of 27. Earlier than Brexit and the departure of the UK, there have been 28 member states. However how does the membership course of happen and who’s answerable for the method?
THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESS – You submit an software to hitch the Council of the EU. The Council asks the European Fee to confirm whether or not the candidate nation meets the accession standards. Primarily based on the Fee’s suggestions, the Council decides whether or not or to not grant candidate nation standing and begins formal negotiations. This resolution should be accepted by all EU Member States. The candidate nation then prepares to implement EU legal guidelines and laws.
THE MEMBERSHIP PROCESS/2 – The Fee screens progress and informs the Council and the European Parliament. As soon as the negotiations have been concluded, he kinds an opinion. Whether it is deemed prepared, a contract is drawn up. The doc should be accepted by the European Fee, the European Council and the European Parliament and ratified by every Member State and the candidate nation. The method typically stands.
Croatia – Croatia was the final nation to hitch the EU on 1 July 2013 as a part of the seventh enlargement. From 1 January 2023 it is usually a part of the Eurozone