A former PSD prime minister and president of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva says Portugal should not be giving priority to attracting high amounts of community funds.
On the 40th anniversary of Portugal joining the EEC on 1st January, 1986, he said that 40 years after joining the economic community Portugal should now no longer be thinking about attracting a high amount of community funding.
“Portugal today is clearly a better country,” he added, but warned that the priority could not now be about getting community funds.
In an article sent to the Lusa agency on January 1, 2026, addressing the 40th anniversary of Portugal joining the EEC as it then was, he said: “Today, Portugal should be at the forefront of efforts to build a new ambition to strengthen the European Union, reinforce the eurozone, enhance cohesion and increase its international visibility.”
The ex-president of Portugal remarks in this context that the EU must have a deeper internal market, push for the creation of a capital markets union, and a European energy union, the completion of a banking union, and the expansion of investment in research and innovation, and innovation for the market.
Cavaco Silva added that the “European Union is confronted by a series of external threats that can only be met if it is truly united in its democratic values and principles that guided its founding”.
Source: Essential Business
