Budgetary Goals for Culture
The coalition AD-PSD/CDS aims to increase the Culture budget in the State Budget (OE) by 50% by 2028 compared to 2024.
In the State Budget proposal for 2025 by the AD Government, it is stated that “the Culture Budget Program highlights, for 2025, a total consolidated expenditure allocation of 597.3 million euros,” with “effective consolidated expenditure projected at 593.1 million euros.”
The total consolidated expenditure for each budget program indicates that the Culture sector also plans for 207.3 million euros under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
For 2024, the effective expenditure for Culture stood at 450.9 million euros according to the accompanying charts of the 2025 proposal report.
The Livre and Bloco de Esquerda (BE) parties advocate for 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be allocated to Culture, while the Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (PAN) proposes an effective 1% of the OE.
The CDU (a coalition between the PCP and the Green Ecological Party) suggests that the Ministry of Culture’s budget should represent 1% of the OE, “moving towards progressively achieving 1% of the GDP.”
Achieving 1% of the GDP for Culture would result in transfers to the sector amounting to approximately 2.64 billion euros, based on the collective sum generated by all goods and services in 2024 (approximately 264 billion euros at current prices).
Based on the effective public administration expenditure in 2024, which was 93.1 billion euros excluding financial assets and liabilities, 1% of the OE for Culture would amount to approximately 931 million euros available to distribute among the supervised organizations.
Without specifying figures, the PS speaks of “continuing to enhance the sector’s allocation,” while Chega generally refers to financing “in a sustainable and fair manner.”
The Liberal Initiative (IL) does not make any references, advocating for a cultural policy that “encourages private investment in culture.”
Cultural Heritage
The CDU’s electoral program envisions a National Emergency Program for Cultural Heritage and the prevention of the alienation and concession of state heritage assets, particularly classified heritage.
The CDU also proposes extending the free access regime to Museums, Palaces, Monuments, and Archaeological Sites.
Chega prioritizes the protection and revitalization of tangible and intangible heritage, including historical, architectural, and archaeological heritage and popular traditions.
The party’s several proposals include strengthening heritage safeguarding measures and implementing a National Heritage Recovery Program for monuments, historic churches, museums, and classified heritage at risk. Chega also wants to establish the Discoveries Museum and the National Museum of Sacred Art.
The IL envisions creating a new model “to release the management of Heritage from the excessive weight of the Central State.”
While noting the “recent advances” with the establishment of the public company Museums and Monuments of Portugal and the public institute Cultural Heritage by the XXIII Government (PS), a lot remains unfulfilled regarding the autonomy of cultural institutions.
The safeguarding, conservation, and rehabilitation of cultural heritage are also among the goals of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, which commits to continuing to strengthen heritage safeguarding measures and drafting an inventory and rehabilitation plan for buildings with greater cultural value.
The PS aims to launch a “large-scale” public investment program in cultural heritage recovery after the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Strengthening the Public Administration framework, especially in the Archaeology area, and regulating the professional profile of conservators-restorers are other Socialist proposals for Heritage.
In the Livre’s electoral program, the party seeks to “decolonize Culture” and create “Narrative Museums” that, among other aspects, “encourage the creation of networks of routes and thematic itineraries on less researched or known periods.”
“Effectively applying the Autonomy and Monuments Law” is advocated by the BE.
Books, Reading, and Libraries
Chega aims to amend the decree-law establishing the Fixed Book Price Regime, “making the law less restrictive of bookshops’ freedom.” In contrast, the IL seeks to repeal this law and liberalize the book market.
The AD-PSD/CDS coalition commits to “facilitating school community interactions with national writers.”
Among the CDU’s various proposals, creating a support program for small bookstores and independent publishers and restructuring and strengthening the Literary Creation Grants Program stands out.
The PS intends to revise the National Reading Plan (PNL), support small independent publishers, and implement “conservation measures” for small bookstores and support in “peripheral areas.”
The Livre plans to restructure the Directorate-General for Books, Archives, and Libraries. It also wants to review the PNL and increase the value of the book voucher until the end of the legislative term.
Another proposal of the Livre includes “creating the Eduardo Lourenço National Library, a major public library of European and international dimension.”
The BE aligns with Chega in its intention to revise the Fixed Book Price Law and aims to strengthen resources in the National Public Libraries Network, the National School Libraries Network, and research libraries.
The PAN advocates support for publishers and entities in the book sector “to encourage book reuse (preventing their destruction) and fostering the digital transition (‘e-book’ or ‘audiobook’).”
Work
The Statute of Culture Professionals, a legal framework for independent sector workers in force since 2022, appears in the electoral programs of almost all parties.
The CDU calls for “effective mechanisms for access to social benefits and a stable contributory career for workers,” wanting employment contracts to be a “fundamental element” for awarding public support.
The PS wants to assess the Statute and “increase the requirement for supported entities to enter into employment contracts.”
Among various measures presented, Livre, Chega, PAN, and BE want to revise the Statute to adapt to “the sector’s reality” (Livre), combat precariousness (BE), or “ensure effective social protection for intermittent workers” (Chega).
PAN also advocates creating the “High Artistic Performance Statute,” while the CDU calls for “collective bargaining and rights-based work” and “the participation of Culture workers in defining sector policies.”
The IL and AD programs do not reference working conditions in the sector.
Arts Support
The PS wishes to “create a corrective mechanism so that supports can have a nationwide impact,” and the BE calls for a “significant increase and diversification of funding for artistic creation.”
A “National Circulation Platform” for young artists and a network of “Creation Houses” are two additional proposals by the PS.
The socialists also want unused spaces, “not eligible for housing,” to be freely allocated to creators and cultural organizations “as work, rehearsal, and storage spaces.”
PAN goes in the same direction, with the “provision of underutilized or abandoned public buildings and spaces for artistic residences,” also advocating the creation of a tax “on major digital platforms” to fund national cultural projects.
The Livre intends to “stabilize the relationship between the current law, its outlined deadlines, the annual statement from the Directorate-General for the Arts, missing regulations, and the opening of respective competitions.”
The CDU wants to reform the arts support allocation model, ensure annual updates of allocated funds in multiannual competitions, and align competition timelines with the reality of various forms of artistic expression, “complying with them.”
The AD-PSD/CDS coalition intends to create a national program supporting independent programming, residency, incubation, and artistic creation structures and to review the support regime for regional orchestras.
IL aims to diversify funding and decentralize decision-making and production in Arts Support, involving local authorities and cultural institutions, and strengthening public-private partnerships in the international promotion of national authors and creators, involving the community and businesses.
Chega suggests financially supporting “relevant national cultural projects for promoting Portuguese identity and culture” and creating a “specific direct support program for philharmonic bands and folk groups.”
Cinema and Audiovisual
BE advocates for creating a public cinema distribution entity to combat “the monopoly” of major companies in the sector, alongside new obligations for operators and distributors, including “quotas for Portuguese independent musical and audiovisual production.”
Similarly, the Livre supports establishing an annual quota of Portuguese cinema in theaters, while PAN proposes a working group to define goals and increase Portuguese cinema’s market share to 10% by 2028 and 15% by 2030.
The PS calls for “effective mechanisms” within the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) to “distribute and showcase the cinema produced in Portugal.”
According to ICA, Portuguese productions had 17,265 viewers and 68,230 euros in revenue in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a market share of just 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively.
Chega intends to “improve the distribution of national cinema,” “support international co-productions that bring investment and visibility,” and “strengthen public funding for national cinema.” Additionally, it seeks to establish a museological center at the Portuguese Film Archive.
This entity is also mentioned in the CDU’s program, which aims to “enhance Portuguese cinema, preserving the entirely public character of the Film Archive, boosting the ICA’s financial and human resources, and promoting support for national and non-commercial film creation and distribution.”
The PSD/CDS-PP coalition aims to implement the Strategic Plan for Cinema and Audiovisual, currently under public consultation. Chega shares a similar goal of “developing and implementing a Strategic Plan for Cinema and Audiovisual.”
IL has no specific proposals for this area.
Inclusion and Accessibility
In its electoral program, Livre advocates for an artistic and cultural sector “truly accessible to people with disabilities or specific needs, both in enjoyment and professional practice.”
BE proposes a plan to showcase “cultural expressions of minority communities” and support “Portuguese sign language interpretation at live performances and the production of braille or audio versions of printed materials.”
The AD-PSD/CDS coalition aims, in the event of forming a government, to “continue the ongoing work promoting diversification and audience inclusion” to ensure cultural access, “especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.”
Patronage
The AD-PSD/CDS coalition plans to reformulate the legal framework for patronage, “creating an attractive and mobilizing regime based on the freedom of cultural initiative.”
The IL proposes a “profound” review of this regime, “focused on creating an autonomous Cultural Patronage Statute, separate from the current Tax Benefits Statute, with its own rules.”
Chega discusses “updating” the existing law to “directly encourage private arts financing.”
In previous electoral programs, the PS expressed the intention to “advance with a new cultural patronage statute,” and the Livre briefly mentions the need to “implement the Patronage Law.”
The CDU, BE, and PAN programs make no references to patronage.
Copyright
Concerning copyright, BE broadly states its support for “promoting collective organization of authors, artists, and performers’ rights, without detriment to individual decisions on the availability of their works.”
The AD-PSD/CDS coalition proposes to “study the equivalence of copyright on musical scores to book copyrights.”
IL advocates “eliminating all exemptions on the private copy levy,” describing this levy as “iniquitous and unjust.”
The CDU mentions in its program the “defense of respect for copyright in digital environments or formats.”
