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Meeting of the Council in the Palace of Belém

President of the Republic held meeting of Council of State

The President of the Republic presided at the meeting of the Council of State, the topic on the agenda being “European response to the crisis in the Euro Zone and the Portuguese situation”.

The following communiqué was disclosed at the end of the meeting:

“ 1) The President of the Republic held a meeting of the Council of State today, for the purposes comprised under the second part of item e) of article No. 145 of the Constitution, the topic on the agenda being “European response to the crisis in the Euro Zone and the Portuguese situation”.

2) In the initial stage of the meeting of the Council of State, with all its members present, the Minister of State and for Finance, who was present at the request of the President of the Republic, made an exposé on the topic of the agenda and provided answers to the queries received from the members.

3) The Council examined the measures already taken by the European institutions aiming to combat the crisis in the Euro Zone and what those implied in the Portugal’s case, the availability of the ECB to intervene in the secondary market for the sovereign debt of countries subject to strict conditionings and the need for the European policies concerning growth and employment to be materialized as early as possible.

4) As concerns the situation in the Country, the Councillors underlined the crucial importance for political and social dialogue and for the search for consensus in order to find solutions that, considering the need to comply with the commitments assumed with the international institutions that ensure – and continue ensuring – the indispensable means to finance our economy, guarantee equality and justice in the share of suffering as well the protection of families with lowest incomes and allow placing into perspective sustainable economic growth.

5) Although recognizing that Portugal is largely dependent upon external factors to finance the State and the economy, and thus the need to preserve the Country’s external credibility and to guarantee positive assessments of the efforts carried out in the adjustments aiming to correct economic and financial imbalances, the Council of State considers that all attempts must be endeavoured in order that the rectifying of public finance and the structural changes to the economy improve the conditions for creation of employment and preserve national cohesion.

6) The Council of State was advised of the Government’s availability, within the framework of social concerted consultation, to consider alternatives to the alterations in Social Security Taxes.

7) The Council of State was also advised that the difficulties which could affect the stability of the party political coalition that backs the Government had been overcome.

Lisbon 21 September 2012