Portugal’s ‘new’ PM declares war on bureaucracy

Sexta-feira 06 Junho 2025 - 16:32

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro vows to cut red tape in bid to deliver real growth and change

Just minutes after being sworn in as Portugal’s Prime Minister on Thursday, Luís Montenegro declared war on the country’s much-maligned excessive bureaucracy, which he said is holding Portugal back.

In his first major speech since being sworn in, Montenegro said transforming the country is the only way to tackle poverty and deliver real prosperity – and at the heart of that transformation is cutting red tape.

“I want to declare here today, solemnly, war on bureaucracy,” the PM announced, adding that overregulation, slow decision-making, and an unresponsive state are dampeners to growth.

“The growth of the economy and wealth creation are the government’s number one goal to achieve the supreme objective which is the well-being of the Portuguese people,” Montenegro added.

To lead this charge, Montenegro highlighted the creation of a new Ministry for State Reform, which will report directly to him.

“By creating a ministry to promote and oversee this transformation, under my direct responsibility, it is very clear that every department (…) will be called to collaborate on this national goal,” he declared.

The announcement of the new government’s war on bureaucracy comes just around one week after hoteliers in the Algarve sounded the alarm over excessive red tape, which they say is scaring away investors.

“We can’t continue with the kind of bureaucracy we have now – it takes an average of seven years to approve a hotel project,” said Hélder Martins, president of the Algarve hotel association (AHETA), calling it a “barrier to development.”

Martins explained that international investors often lose interest in the region once they encounter so many delays and red tape.

“We’re being approached by global brands that want to invest here, but then they say, ‘In the Algarve, there’s too much bureaucracy – I’ll go elsewhere.’ We are receiving world-class brands, but we have to be up to the challenge. Whenever there’s an issue to solve, it must be resolved quickly.”