The President of the Regional Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro (PSD), defended today that the national measures announced today to combat inflation should not “exclude” any part of the territory or population.
“When they are national measures in the sense of public subsidy to support families and companies, and workers and bosses, no part of the territory or any Portuguese population should be excluded. We are Azorean, Portuguese, we should have this coverage right away”, stated José Manuel Bolieiro.
The government official was speaking to journalists after the closing of the reflection session on the New Strategy of the European Commission for the Outermost Regions, which took place at the Palácio da Conceição, in Ponta Delgada.
The President of the Azorean Government said that he has been warning of this need in meetings of the Council of State and in the dialogue he maintains with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
The Government announced today the reduction to zero of VAT on essential food items, a monthly support of 30 euros for the poorest families and an extraordinary supplement of 15 euros per child and young person for beneficiaries of family allowances.
According to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, the payment of this monthly support of 30 euros to the poorest families will be automatic and will be done on a quarterly basis, in force between January and December of this year.
Thus, the Government is expected to pay the first quarter support soon.
According to information provided today by the Ministry of Finance, this support will reach around one million households.
The leader of the Azorean executive also considered that, “within the framework of autonomy, the Azores add value, taking into account the responsibilities of the State and the opportunity”, since, based on the autonomous regime, “it can be seen that support is necessary to offset the extra costs of insularity and ultraperiphery”.
“In many cases, we make advances in our public policies to combat the inflationary trend, but it is not enough, and there must be a reinforcement of subsidies”, he said.
Bolieiro, in the context of the reflection session on the New Strategy of the European Commission for the Outermost Regions, intends that the Member States with ORs (Portugal, Spain and France) “be in solidarity with the strategy of the regions themselves”, because this “creates a strengthening of legitimacy and support for the integral development of the European Union throughout its territory, with all its populations and peoples”.
The chief executive considered that the European and world geopolitical framework “has demonstrated the importance of a European policy facing the Atlantic”, that is, a “reorientation of Atlanticism”, something that Member States Portugal and Spain “have to do worth” in Brussels.
José Manuel Bolieiro also reiterated the need for a POSEI-Transport, “even if it is not feasible now”, given the dependence of the Azores on sea and air connections.
Within the framework of the energy transition, and given the region’s commitment to renewable energies, the President of the Government of the Azores defended subsidies from Brussels to combat the “great economic and financial effort” that the region is making in this matter.