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We render today a duly merited tribute to Dr. José Manuel Durão Barroso, who has just completed his mandates as President of the European Commission, the highest rated international office ever exercised by a Portuguese citizen.

He did so with great competence, with wisdom and with dedication to the European project.

He brought prestige and gave his utmost help to Portugal.

In contemporary Portugal we cannot find any other Portuguese politician that has ever gained such relevance and such great influence in the international stage

I witnessed this through my contacts with politicians and other foreign individualities, of all origins and beliefs, from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

He was the object of the greatest commendations for his work at the head of the European Commission.

I closely followed his career as President of the Commission, and know how skilfully he carried out a decisive role in order that Europe overcame the crises it went through in the last decade.

To start with, the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon, which overcame the political and institutional deadlock created by the negative votes over the Constitutional Treaty, cast by France and The Netherlands.

Highly relevant was Dr. Durão Barroso’s contribution in order that the European Union overcame the financial and sovereign debt crises, which placed the Euro Zone on the edge of disruption and even placed in question the project of European integration itself.

Dr. Durão Barroso was the main driver of the new model of economic governance in the Euro Zone, more consistent with a true Economic and Monetary Union, and was equally instrumental in setting up the support tools for countries with grievous issues of economic and financial imbalances, such as the creation of the European Stability Mechanism.

The same could be said with respect to the Banking Union, in its features for supervision and resolution of banking crises.

When he took office as President of the Commission, there were 15 members of the European Commission. The European Union since then was expanded to 28 Member States. And, in this issue, Dr. José Manuel Durão Barroso performed a role of great relevance, maintaining the unity of the 28. An extremely demanding task.

And whoever has taken the trouble to read the documents will easily view that it wasn’t for lack of vision of the President of the European Commission or of the European Parliament that the European Union did not consider any earlier, as priorities, economic growth and job creation, in parallel with budgetary consolidation.

When I exercised the office of Prime Minister I took part in 28 European Council Meetings. And I was able to ascertain how the functions of President of the European Commission are the most demanding, most complex and most relevant in the international stage. It was the era of Jacques Delors, a great European, a man to whom Europe owes much, a good friend of Portugal.

The era of Jacques Delors was also complex and difficult. It was the time when a referendum was held in Denmark, which had a negative result with respect to the Treaty of the European Union. It was the time when the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe were disrupted, when the Berlin Wall fell, when the Reunification of Germany occurred, and in which the Soviet Union completely collapsed. It was the time of the conflicts in Yugoslavia. And it was when Iraq invaded Kuwait.

I would state, however, that the time of Dr. Durão Barroso was possibly more demanding and complex than that of Jacques Delors. In the time of Jacques Delors there were 12 Member States in the European Union. In the time of Durão Barroso the number of Member States increased from 15 to 28. And it is very difficult to dialogue with 28 Governments, which answer to their respective Parliaments and respective electors, and believe that they will be better thought of if the faults for which only they are responsible can be attributed to Brussels.

The European Union is today better prepared, institutionally, economically and financially, to overcome the challenges of the future. And this is mainly due to the actions developed by Durão Barroso, as President of the Commission.

Portugal benefited greatly from having a Portuguese national at the head of the European Commission, well aware of Portuguese reality, well aware of world affairs and with the prestige of Durão Barroso.

Very few, such as I, are able to testify how far Portugal benefited from Dr. Durão Barroso’s actions at the head of the Commission.

He always took great care with our country’s issues; he tried to help Portugal in resolving the difficulties it faced. He mustered supports in order that Portugal could achieve its intended objectives. He opened doors for Portugal’s economic and social development.

And it is enough to refer that the opportune result that Portugal achieved in the negotiations over the multiannual 2014-2020 financial framework is also due to Dr. Durão Barroso. Such as the extension of the maturities and the lowering of the interest rates on the loans obtained by Portugal, within the framework of the adjustment programme.

It is clear to me, and I believe to a majority of Europeans, that Durão Barroso accomplished much to strengthen Europe’s position in the World, to improve its medium and long term stability, and to help Portugal.

I hope that, in the future, other Portuguese may achieve such great relevance, prestige and international influence that they may help Portugal as much as Dr. Durão Barroso has been capable of.

And it is for all this that I decided to publicly recognize the extraordinary nature and special relevance of the services rendered to Portugal by Dr. Durão Barroso.

I am very honoured to lay on him the Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator.