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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-2023-1/3049 – measures in Portugal

Freezing of public transport prices

Congelamento dos preços dos transportes

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 14 February 2023 (updated 25 April 2024)

Background information

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.

Related measures include Reduction of VAT on electricity supply and Adherence to the regulated tariff for the sale of natural gas .

It was established by Law 24-D/2022 of 30 December (State Budget for 2023).

Content of measure

Article 169, paragraph 2 of Law 24-D/2022 of 30 December (State Budget for 2023) creates the Programme to Support Fare Reduction in Public Transport.

The Environmental Fund is authorized to transfer to the transport authorities up to an additional €50,000,000, to ensure the maintenance of existing prices in 2022 of public transport passes. Thus, as an exceptional measure to mitigate the effects of inflation, the prices of urban passes (PART and PROTransP) and travel tickets in regional and long-distance train transport will remain unchanged in 2023, avoiding a fare increase of around 8%.

The measure has an estimated annual cost of €66 million: around €50 million for passes and around €16 million for train journeys (regional and long-distance).

Use of measure

According to information released by the Government, around 1.2 million monthly passes are at stake.

It is estimated that in 2023 there will be more than 17 million individual journeys on regional and long-distance train transport.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Does not apply to businesses Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Informed Informed
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • Unknown
  • Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

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).

Views and reactions

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.

Sectors and occupations

    • Economic area Sector (NACE level 2)
      H - Transportation And Storage H49 Land transport and transport via pipelines

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2023), Freezing of public transport prices, measure PT-2023-1/3049 (measures in Portugal), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/PT-2023-1_3049.html

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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.