Aguiar-Blanco ‘sits at the same table’ with MPs and MEPs to seek consensus – Politics

This Thursday, the President of the Parliament of the Republic convened some of the newly elected Portuguese MPs and the presidents of parliamentary committees with the aim of promoting joint work, stressing the importance of reaching consensus on issues of national interest.

“Portugal needs Europe, 70% of our laws come from European institutions, 80% of our public investments come from community funds, many of our problems can no longer be solved at the national level alone and many of our opportunities will no longer be taken advantage of if we rely only on ourselves. That is why, in my opinion, it makes perfect sense to have the Assembly of the Republic and Portuguese MEPs sitting at the same table”, insists José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.

The Speaker said he was pushing for this “unprecedented move” to “promote good working relations and build new bridges for Portugal in Europe and Europe in Portugal”.

In his brief preliminary remarks, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco stressed that of the 21 Portuguese MEPs elected last month, 19 are newcomers, but, at the same time, 11 have already held parliamentary or governmental positions in the country, having gained experience in these areas of work in the Assembly of the Republic.

At the same time, he continued, the Portuguese Parliament has also learned the “good practices” of the European Parliament, with Aguiar-Branco giving the example of the new system that will cut off the right to speak when the number of deputies in the semicircle exceeds the prescribed speaking time.

The Social Democrat noted that the newly elected MEPs differ greatly “in terms of age, geographical origin, personal path and perspective in life, and of course in the way they see the world and their ideological affirmations.”

“I do not, and we certainly do not, have the desire and intention to suppress, weaken or minimize the doctrinal differences between everyone. They exist, they are healthy and express in a very vivid way the diversity of positions in Portuguese society. But within the boundaries of our differences, we can and should work together to support the national interest which sometimes prevails, and in certain moments or topics, both at the national and European level, over and above partisanship”, he believes.

At a time when “threats to democracy and freedom are once again at the forefront of the concerns of people and political leaders”, the Speaker of the Parliament argued that issues such as the common security and defence policy, possible changes to the treaties that could expand the EU reform, or the review and adjustment of the multiannual financial framework are matters that “require joint efforts from different political families”.

“That is why I have spoken many times about the need to build consensus. I am speaking here again today. What we have to do today is to build a consensus for action, a system and a working relationship to work together for the benefit of the country,” he stressed.

Aguiar-Blanco recalled that Europe is “the work of many people: socialists, Christian democrats, liberals, conservatives, Marxists, ecologists, coming from different geographical locations, paths and identities”.

“The qualities and examples shown by each of them in their tasks constitute an added value of recognition of Portugal’s capacity to participate in the formation of European will, for the benefit of Europe and Portugal,” he concluded.

The MEPs who attended the meeting included the socialists Marta Temido, Ana Catarina Mendes and Francisco Assis, elected by the Democratic Alliance (AD, PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition), the “firsts” among others, Chega António Tânger Corrêa, the liberal Ana Martins, the blockist Catarina Martins and the communist João Oliveira.