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Good Evening,

In the this eve of 2007 I wish all the Portuguese a very happy New Year.

The year which is now starting is crucial for the future of our Country.

This is the time to overtake the phase of meagre economic growth and to get into step with our European partners, consolidating a new development cycle.

We live in a global world where the competition between the various economies is ever more intense.

Europe has to compete with China, with India and with other Asian countries, where change is experiencing an as yet unseen acceleration.

Portugal can only belong in the upper échelons if it is capable to adapt itself to these new realities. We have to assert our skills and prove that we understand the complex world in which we live.

The international outlook is particularly difficult. The soaring oil prices, the climbing interest rates and the threats to peace and stability in several parts of the world are all circumstances which require deep consideration.

We cannot expect that anyone will help us in the effort required to remove our difficulties.

We have to guarantee the conditions required to develop what solely depends upon ourselves.

Commencing next July, Portugal will preside to the Council of the European Union for the following six month period. This will be a demanding and complex task to which great responsibility is attached.

But the Presidency of the European Union will equally be an opportunity, which will not be repeated shortly, to assert the prestige of our Country.

People of Portugal,

This is a time of hope. Of the hope which must unite us in the search and in the sharing of the best pathways to ensure our future.

To be amongst the best we must have the ambition to establish demanding targets to which we must be committed and accept the inherent responsibility.

The people of Portugal demand definite achievements. And the President of the Republic, in the beginning of 2007, joins in their quest for positive results.

It is very important that in 2007 clear progress is shown in, at least, three relevant concerns of our collective existence: economic development, education and justice.

Firstly, the issue of economic development, which is essential to provide higher employment, greater social justice and better living conditions.

The size of Countries is no more a determining factor of success. What is really required is to set a cult which allows initiative, the use of skills and to give value to merit.

We can be successful, as long as we have ambition.

Entrepreneurs must be the real agents of change, increasing productivity, making greater and especially better investments, decisively improving innovation and quality.

It is crucial that 2007 be symbolized by a recovery in investment.

Development demands that the State be more efficient in the use of its resources and acts rapidly and with transparency.

The State must not be an obstacle, but must promote the competitive stance amongst businesses and contribute towards the development of individual potentialities.

The effort to obtain a positive balance in public finance is without any doubt a decisive factor for a sustainable economic growth. However, the need remains to preserve social cohesion and support for those who most require it.

Secondly, it is relevant that 2007 is featured by visible improvements in our tuition system.

The training of youths is a determining factor to fight inequalities. Only this may guarantee the maximum benefit to be obtained from the opportunities offered to the Portuguese in a world with no barriers.

The active policies to take full advantage from teaching establishments and to stimulate youths to continue their tuition are the most relevant features which can be launched for the benefit of our future.

This is a task that must bring us all together: teachers, parents and students, each with its own responsibility, within a frame that the central and local authorities should guide and support.

Time is short. The quality of tuition, the incitement to excellence and the fight without lull against failure rate and school abandonment must have positive signals already in 2007.

Thirdly, 2007 is the year when decisive steps must be taken to improve the working of the judiciary system.

Last year some improvement was witnessed in the unsteadiness which branded the Judiciary system. It was even possible to reach an enlarged political understanding with a view to attain better credibility and to reinforce confidence in the workings of justice.

The personages in this sector are expected to actively contribute towards the improvement of the Judiciary system.

People of Portugal,

In 2007, we cannot fail in the targets we want to achieve. For this purpose a climate of confidence and stability is fundamental to attain economic and social development, to place institutions on a credible basis and to accomplish urgent reforms.

A healthy institutional relationship must also exist between the Government and its partners, be these governments of the Autonomous Regions, political parties or union and entrepreneurial federations.

The President of the Republic, within the framework allowed by the Constitution, has tried to ensure the political conditions so that Portugal may follow the paths of the future, with respect for the democratic options of its citizens.

But Portugal needs us all, because a common effort is the only way to achieve the progress, the well-being and the judiciary system which are our ambition.

I do not ignore the hopes and anxieties of the Portuguese, neither the difficulties which some are going through. I have heard them often, along the “routes” which I have travelled in various parts of the Country.

I understand the feelings of those who are unhappy and wish for a better Country. I share this lack of satisfaction myself and also want a better Country and, for this reason, will also be demanding as to results.

This is the only way we can understand and accept that the sacrifices we are asked to bear now are essential to prepare a better future.

We have to concentrate on the great challenges which are facing our Country.

But there must always be room to heed the suffering of the less fortunate, the sick and the children who are the victims of abuse, the difficulties of the handicapped, the loneliness of the aged, and for the trauma of the unemployed. I have them all in my thoughts.

From the beginning of my mandate that I have endeavoured to sow the seeds for a fairer society, providing inclusion and fellowship.

At this time I also wish to send a word of esteem and admiration for those who are away from their Country, the Portuguese who are spread around the World. We rely on them and, in the name of Portugal, I want to let them know that they can rely on us.

In this festive occasion I also wish to send my greetings to the military personnel on foreign missions, away from their families. I want to thank them for the great service they are rendering their Country and to our ideal of peace in our world.

People of Portugal,

Responsibility for their fate lies with the people. I have confidence in the future because I believe in the people of Portugal.

I hope that in the year which is now beginning we will be able to sight a better future. It is in this belief that I wish the people of Portugal and their families a Happy New Year.

Good evening.