The Government's proposal is to create two Intermunicipal Communities: one for Greater Lisbon (North Shore); and another for the Setubal Peninsula (South Shore). The two Intermunicipal Communities together will form the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, which will remain. The objective is to facilitate access to community funds and thus stimulate territorial cohesion.
Split the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) to the medium and create two Intermunicipal Communities (CIMs) separated by the Tagus River: one on the North Shore, the CIM of Great Lisbon; and the other in the South, the CIM of the Setúbal Peninsula. This is the government's proposal to improve the territory's cohesion and development - and access to community funds - which, however, does not imply the end of the AML. The idea is for the AML to coexist with the two CIMs.
What are Intermunicipal Communities?
To facilitate some joint inter-municipal decision-making and policies, there are Inter-Municipal Communities (CIMs) and Metropolitan Areas (MAs). These intermunicipal entities aggregate a certain number of municipalities, in a region, and allow them to work together in education, health, civil protection, mobility, basic infrastructures, culture, etc, promoting an articulation with the central State.
Intermunicipal entities can also develop joint development strategies for their territories and find funding.
- In all, there are 21 Intermunicipal Communities (CIMs) in Portugal. Each CIM has an Intermunicipal Assembly, an Intermunicipal Council, an Intermunicipal Executive Secretariat, and a Strategic Council, where the different municipalities are represented.
- There are only two Metropolitan Areas (AMs) in Portugal: the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML) and the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP). Each AM has a Metropolitan Council, a Metropolitan Executive Committee and a Strategic Council, where the different municipalities are represented.
The Intermunicipal Communities and Metropolitan Areas correspond to an organization of the national territory known as NUTS 3. NUTS stands for Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistical PurposesNUTS is a European standard, which is common to all member states of the European Union (EU). NUTS is used by Eurostat for all regional statistics, and by the EU for defining regional policies and allocating cohesion funds.
In Portugal, there are three NUTS. Level 1 corresponds to the division between mainland Portugal, the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Level 2, on the other hand, divides the continental territory between the North, Center, Alentejo and Algarve, and the autonomous regions are units by themselves (i.e., they have no further divisions beyond level 1). Level 3 corresponds, as already mentioned, to the MAs and CIMs. There is a fourth layer, already outside the NUTS scheme and corresponding to the local administration units. They are the LAUS, that is, the Local Administrative Units - that is, the municipalities (LAU 1) and the parishes (LAU 2).
What is the Government's proposal?
A Proposed Law No. 42/XV/1of the Government, proposes to proceed "the alteration of the legal regime of local authorities, deepening the regime of metropolitan areas and intermunicipal communities". In this proposal, already delivered to the Portuguese Parliament, António Costa's Government suggests moving the municipalities of Sertã and Vila de Rei from the CIM of Médio Tejo to the CIM of Beira Baixa, and also changing the name of the CIM of Alto Tâmega to CIM of Alto Tâmega e Barroso. But the main proposed change involves creating two new Intermunicipal Communities within the current Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
In the text of the Draft Law, one can read that, although in the AML there are "a large concentration of population, businesses, knowledge centers, decision-making centers, and public entities", "some territorial asymmetries also occur, which in a global logic can be associated with different levels of development between Greater Lisbon (northern bank of the Tagus River) and the Setubal Peninsula (southern bank of the Tagus River)".
The Government argues that it has "verified that the Setubal Peninsula has lost competitiveness by being clearly distant from the development of Greater Lisbon and where situations of metropolitan asymmetries are identified, which justifies treating the territory of the Setubal Peninsula as a specific reality, although maintaining a deep functional relationship with the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley".
"Thus, the Intermunicipal Communities of Greater Lisbon and the Setubal Peninsula are defined, starting with the municipalities north and south of the Tagus of the current AML, respectively, and the definition of these two Intermunicipal Communities does not call into question the maintenance of the AML"concludes the executive in his proposal.
A Greater Lisbon CIM would consist of Amadora, Cascais, Lisbon, Loures, Mafra, Odivelas, Oeiras, Sintra, Vila Franca de Xira - that is, all the municipalities that make up the AML's North Shore. As for CIM of the Setubal Peninsula would have Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, Palmela, Seixal, Sesimbra and Setúbal - that is, all the municipalities that make up the AML South Bank. The Government's proposal changes the legal regime of local authoritiesThe CIMs that are part of AMs have fewer powers (the rest belong to the AMs) and can only work in the "promoting the planning and management of the economic, social and environmental development strategy of the territory covered"and also participate in the "management of support programs for regional development, namely within the scope of European funds".
The government's legislative initiative was discussed on Thursday, November 10, at a parliamentary hearing during the discussion of the State Budget for 2023 (OE2023). Quoted by Lusa news agencythe Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, explained that the amendments want the Setubal Peninsula to have its own regional operational programs and to get European co-financing for projects at a higher rate than is applied in Lisbon - an area that Brussels considers more developed, and therefore has less European support.
The Government's Bill now needs to be approved in Parliament to go to Brussels; it will be up to Eurostat to make the final decision whether or not to approve the changes to the Portuguese NUTS. If the answer is affirmative, the new NUTS can come into force as early as next year, but, for the purposes of access to community funds, they can only take effect as of 2027explains the Lusa agency.
