It was predictable that, with the new challenges of the European project, especially defense and security and strategic autonomy, cohesion would lose relevance among community policies. As Portugal is a country of convergence, the secondary role of the redistributive function of the European Union (EU) may represent a loss of its capacity both to approach the levels of well-being of the richest Member States, and to combat regional asymmetries and promote the balanced development of its territory.
The European Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), covering the period 2028-34, appears to indicate a change in the cohesion model in force to date in the EU. Now, Portugal continues to need cohesion funds to consolidate itself as a competitive and socially and territorially balanced country.
It is important, however, to point out that access to European financing cannot continue to be the alpha and omega of national policy. We must aspire to the EU’s net contributor status, moving from being a subsidy-dependent country to having the autonomy to create wealth for ourselves and still contribute to the EU budget.
That said, it is fair to emphasize that the MFF places a greater focus on competitiveness and resilience. The European Commission’s proposal envisages the creation of a European Competitiveness Fund, with an allocation of around 400 billion euros. This instrument will serve, above all, to reinforce Europe’s competitive capacity in strategic areas such as innovation, science, technology and industry. The application of the new fund should, however, respect criteria that aim at the objective of cohesion, without giving up the logic of project excellence.
In this regard, it is worth remembering that, in the next MFF and subsequent ones, Portuguese companies will have to be prepared to compete for funds with projects from other Member States, as is already happening in Horizon Europe. This requires greater training and a different mentality from our companies, in order to present proposals of high scientific and technological merit, organize themselves into competitive European consortia and demonstrate effective results with their projects.
It is in Portugal’s interest that the MFF gains a greater financial dimension and that the cohesion policy is, in fact, safeguarded. In addition to adequate financing, it is necessary to simplify access to cohesion funds, promote greater involvement of the private sector in their implementation and guarantee their application in truly structuring projects with a knock-on effect. Cohesion policy must remain a cornerstone of the EU, balancing and reconciling the needs for convergence with strengthening competitiveness.
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