Luís Montenegro presided over the signing of the Cooperation Protocol for regulated labour migration, which took place at the Palácio das Necessidades in Lisbon, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We are starting from a very problematic point, let's be clear: in recent years we have had an irresponsible policy in the area of ​​immigration”, he stated, considering that “the lack of control” has resulted in a decrease in the capacity for integration and a “less humanistic sensitivity”.

Structural reform

The Prime Minister argued that this Government is carrying out “a true structural reform” in the area of ​​immigration.

“For this mechanism to work, there must be a valid employment contract, travel and health insurance for the worker, a professional training and Portuguese language learning plan and an adequate accommodation plan”, he said, considering that these four conditions “are in the interest of the country, the company and the workers”.

According to the protocol, to which Lusa had access, the granting of visas "must occur within 20 days from the day the applicant is seen at the consular post" and provided that the legal requirements are met, namely the existence of an employment contract, health and travel insurance, among others.

Without ever referring to the early elections of May 18, the Prime Minister stated that the PSD/CDS-PP Government will continue to approach immigration policy “in a holistic manner”, but in a way that is adapted “at each moment, to the needs of the country” and its commitments within the scope of the European Union.

Consequences

“We are not going to close the door to anyone, but we are not going to sell illusions either. And where there is irregular behaviour, where people go beyond the rules, there must be consequences,” he argued.

Montenegro argued that “condescension towards non-compliance” or the relaxation of the rules would bring back “the chaos, the irresponsibility, the hundreds of thousands of pending cases”.

“We often leave foreign workers who came to us with the best of intentions in the hands of networks that took, and still take, advantage of this work capacity. Now, there is no situation more offensive to humanism than this,” he said.

Montenegro stated that he was not making these criticisms “with a political-partisan intention”, but because “the country needs to know the mistakes it made so as not to make them again and needs to know where it was in order to be able to mobilize for a new stage”.

The Prime Minister also refused that the Government has an “exclusively utilitarian” view of immigrants, limited to the workforce they can bring to the Portuguese economy and their contributions.

“Our vision is not limited like that: we know that these are also effects, but believe me, we are thinking about the individual project of each of these people,” he said.

Montenegro argued that only the valorisation of human resources will allow greater economic growth and took the opportunity to highlight the current situation in Portugal.

“A country that grows more than the European Union average, grows more than the average of the eurozone countries and, we could add, has a financial stability that makes any economy in Europe blush with envy,” he said.

In the area of ​​immigration, the Prime Minister added that the government is “concluding the process of analysing and resolving the 400,000 pending issues” that existed, with a response capacity “seven times greater” than that which existed when the PSD and CDS-PP took over the government.

“We are strengthening the consular network, with 50 experts, we have already authorised the hiring of 287 linguistic and cultural mediators, of which 150 are already in schools,” he highlighted.