Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Chairman of the Board of ANAFRE,
Conference Chairman,
Speakers of the Parish Assemblies,
Presidents of the Parish Councils,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was very pleased to accept the invitation to attend the Opening Ceremony of the XII ANAFRE Conference, the association which represents the parishes of our Country.

Parishes, as we are all aware, are the local authorities nearest to the people.

This means that, in your concern, reality is not just what statistics tell us: suffering has a face and hope looks to us.

Hoe many of you has a personal feeling of happiness when a child is born in the parish? I am quite certain that many of you know all the electors by their Christian names.

How many thousands of Portuguese will not have found in the President of the Parish Council the friendly and helping hand they needed in moments of dire difficulty?

We can thus state that Democracy commences in the Parish, in the daily and direct contact of the local authority with the citizen, a contact which finds its historic root in the original association of proximity among neighbours.

For this reason, the parish is an excellent school of citizenship. The trend that we feel in our society to distinguish between “us”, citizens, and “them”, the politicians, does not exist here; the parish’s local authority is one of “us”.

As you know better than anyone else, the parish’s local authorities are, for many of us, the visible face of the Administration. As are those that, primarily, we resort to for the purpose of reckoning.

But those who find in the labours of local authority a way of serving their neighbours gather, from their dedication to the public cause, the joy of being able to settle definite problems of real people.

To be a local authority in a parish is a good practice for the young Portuguese who face public life as a service.

Let it not be thought, however, that work in a local authority, which represents the smallest administrative division of the territory, is less complex and not very demanding.

Our experience of local authority in democracy has been very fruitful. Parishes, in particular, have taken up ever wider duties, either through legislation, or through delegation from the councils, or even via contractual agreement. And, equally, from citizens’ demands.

Amongst the Portuguese who never performed duties as local authorities, there are few, mainly in the larger urban centres, who have a precise notion of the duties that are handled by the parishes.

It is my understanding that parishes must be looked at as privileged agents of social development, of urban requalification, and as defenders of the environment and natural resources.

Their proximity to the people allows them a very special promotion of social cohesion: they are present, above all, in stages of greater fragility, as part of the daily life of so many children and of so many aged people, in nurseries and kindergartens, in homes and day centres.

In addition parishes have known how to provide answers to new challenges, as for instance integrating concerns with quality management applied to local authority administration, taking part, within their extent, in local area planning, or contributing towards the approach of citizens to new information technologies.

And now, in the presence of women and men who thus contribute to bring changes to the Country and to improve the lives of the Portuguese, I want to commend, with fairness, the dedication and exertion of those who give themselves over to a true mission, often sacrificing their professional activities and even their family affairs.

The competences of the local authorities are an eternal issue. We are aware of the consecration, which is anyway constitutional, of the principle of subsidiarity. We defend that what a minor being may be able to perform should not be attributed to a major being. Resulting that those to whom a competence is given must be provided with the means to exert it.

It is thus established that, as principles stand, each level of public administration must accommodate that which it can more efficiently carry out. Harder however is to ascertain, definitely, how the principle is to be applied.

For this reason I salute with special emphasis ANAFRE’s initiative to assess the quality of the services which its associates render to citizens, companies and institutions, through a study which I have already become acquainted with.

In our country, we frequently discuss the assignment of competences and the financing which these require. We often do so, however, without a previous heedful analysis, specifically as to the cost benefit ratio which must considered in any fundamental decision.

Decisions must be thought out. Legislative changes must be carefully matured. And when, after due reflection, after scientific study, credible results are found, these must not be ignored.

Above all, in the historic moment we are living, those who are politically responsible are expected to take special care as to the use of available means and resources.

We have to go as far as to ask: what is the yield of a Euro applied at this level of administration? And how much will it yield elsewhere?

This will not, of course, be the exclusive criterion to be considered when a decision is taken. But such queries have to be placed. And must be duly answered.

The legal uniform commissioning of new competences to all parishes is, however, an issue which requires specific thought. The outcome of this may immediately be seen as extremely varied.

We have urban, semi-urban and rural parishes. We have large urban parishes, larger at times than some counties. And we have urban parishes which are very small. The social and economic characteristics of each territorial unit differ deeply. We have, for instance, grievous problems with depopulation, both in rural areas and in the centre of large cities. But we also find, especially in coastal areas, densely populated parishes.

There are parishes with a few dozen inhabitants, but the largest, in the county of Sintra, has more than one hundred thousand people. We are surely not considering comparable realities.

In the face of such diversity, we have to very carefully assess the most favourable path to benefit national and local interests: if that of the legal consecration of new competences, or if that of continuing to allow that this assessment is locally carried out and negotiated.

One thing is certain: parishes have been allowed to exercise an increased number of duties by delegation and through contractual agreement. This situation is obviously due to the fact that, at a local level, the parish is the most adequate stage, or better, that which is most viable, for the performance of such duties, thus proving that there is a capacity for partnership with the municipalities to better serve the community.

I am certain that, when the discussion is held on a reform of the competence sharing system among the various levels of public administration, the views of the parishes will be heard and, on their behalf, the knowledgeable voice of ANAFRE.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Associations exist to associate, that is, to aggregate multiple wills in a sole force. The more unified you become, the stronger you will be.

I must add that your voice will be heard with yet greater regard by the whole Country and by all other bodies if, from here, from this conference hall and from these delegates, the initiative is taken towards setting up a deep reflection concerning the size of parishes, and possibly, on the convenience of their resizing and on their territorial reorganization. To which I would also add, a basic reflection over the role and the suitability of parish associations.

I congratulate ANAFRE on its XII Conference, revealing of the vitality of the Portuguese local authorities, shown by the large numbers of representatives of parishes from the whole Country. I am certain that your endeavours will obtain their merited success.

In the recent elections for local authorities the people of Portugal freely expressed their trust in each of you. I feel certain that your performance will be relevant for the well being of the people of each of your parishes.

At the beginning of 2010, I wish each of you and the people you represent a Very Happy New Year.

Thank you very much.