“The administrative and tax justice system (…) is a national disgrace today. Our decision-making times are the slowest in all of Europe, and that is unacceptable,” said the official.
The minister was speaking at a joint hearing of the parliamentary committees on State Reform and Local Power, as well as the Budget, Finance, and Public Administration, as part of the detailed consideration of the 2026 State Budget proposal (OE2026).
Gonçalo Matias referred again to the Court of Auditors, stating that it is impossible “to have a principle of trust and then not have functioning courts,” arguing that the current model “has no parallel.”
“It was created in another era [the Court of Auditors] by Professor Sousa Franco, but he himself admitted at the time that it was a model that needed revision. Well, nearly 40 years have passed and there has been no revision, no adaptation to modern times,” he added.
The minister further reiterated that the Government’s proposal “is not to reduce guarantees, not to reduce oversight,” asserting that the objective is “to increase oversight, to increase guarantees” […] “at the appropriate time, which is after a decision has been made.”
“That is what a court does, it supervises the legality of acts; it does not replace those who have to make political decisions,” stated Gonçalo Matias.
