The Europeanization of Portugal (1986-2006): A Critical View

This article intends to critically explore the impact of European Integration on Portuguese politics. The study starts with a general overview of the social and political situation, before discussing the concept of Europeanization. The article examines four aspects of Europeanization in Portugal: how national parliament reacted, the impact of the structural funds upon public administration and Portuguese political economy, the role of the Portuguese presidencies of the European Union in 1992 and 2000 and the Europeanization of Portuguese foreign policy. The Committee of European Affairs of the Portuguese Parliament has gained in reputation in the past two decades of European integration. Although Parliament is marginal in the Portuguese political system, the Committee of European Affairs became an important alternative source of information on the European Union for civil society and the public at large. The EU structural funds helped to improve considerably the national infrastructure, but they need now to be targeted towards a restructuring of the Portuguese economy towards research and development. The Presidencies of 1992 and 2000 enhance the international position of the country, leading even to the historical extraordinary European Council of March 2000 where the Lisbon Strategy was agreed. Last but not least, Portuguese foreign policy has been a pro-active forcein conjunction with other member-states of the European Union in upholding the values of the United Nations. The success related to the independence of East Timor can be regarded as the most important success of the thirty two years of Portuguese democracy. Although Portugal made substantial progress in politics, economics in the social field and in the external arena since joining the EU in 1986, there is still a long way to go to achieve a complete transformation of the country.