Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure PT-2023-1/3031 – measures in Portugal
Country | Portugal , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 01 January 2023 – 31 December 2023 |
Context | War in Ukraine |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery into a green future
– Support for other basic items (e.g., food, housing, public transport, medicines) |
Author | Heloísa Perista (CESIS) |
Measure added | 07 February 2023 (updated 25 April 2024) |
The Government approved a set of exceptional measures to support family income, with a view to mitigating the effects of inflation and the consequent increase in prices: the 'Families First' package of measures. The measure was discussed under the scope of the Medium-Term Agreement for Improving Income, Wages and Competitiveness .
The limitation of the of the increase of the rents for 2023 was established by Article 2, no. 2 of Law 19/2022 of 21 October, to be in force in the calendar year of 2023.
To mitigate the increase of the rents borne by residential and commercial tenants in rural and urban properties, the increase is limited to 2%. Without this measure, prices could rise by 5.43% in 2023. All tenants of rented accommodation with contracts concluded until December 2022 will benefit from this measure. Landlords will be compensated through the creation of an Extraordinary support to renting , through the attribution of a tax benefit on property income. The measure has an estimated cost of €45 million. This limitation on the increase of rents will apply from 1 January 2023, as the contracts are renewed.
Unknown.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers | Does not apply to businesses |
Other groups of citizens
|
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Social partners jointly |
No special funding required
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative |
Form | Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies | Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
The measure was discussed under the scope of the Medium-Term Agreement for improving Income, Wages and Competitiveness.
Social partners´ involvement took place in the context of the tripartite Permanent Commission of Social Concertation (CPCS), which includes: government representatives; representatives of employer confederations, i.e., the Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (CIP), the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), and the Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (CTP); and the representatives of trade union confederations, i.e., the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT). Their involvement was requested by institutional setting by the initiative of the government. CGTP, the largest trade union confederation did not sign the tripartite agreement, but participated in its discussion at the CPCS rounds.
The agreement shall be compulsorily subject to regular evaluation and appropriate readjustment by its signatories at the CPCS:
While all the employer confederations (CAP, CCP, CIP and CTP) and the trade union confederation UGT signed the tripartite agreement, CGTP did not sign it, questioning some of the measures foreseen.
Namely, CGTP considers that the Families First package of measures presented by the government do not guarantee the necessary response to the growing difficulties of workers and their families. The "price increase response plan" does not solve the day-to-day difficulties that workers and pensioners are facing.
UGT also expressed some criticism. Families First is an essential and welcome package of measures, even if it can only be considered late and clearly insufficient, something that is all the more evident when we analyse the sets of measures that were gradually taken by other countries, which were earlier and more intense in their intervention.
Citation
Eurofound (2023), Limitation of the increase of the rents for 2023, measure PT-2023-1/3031 (measures in Portugal), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/PT-2023-1_3031.html
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30 January 2023
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