The political party Livre has highlighted concerns regarding the government’s proposed reform of the Ministry of Education, which plans to reduce the number of central entities from 18 to seven, including the creation of a new Agency for Research and Innovation.
“This new agency, which will reportedly have joint oversight by the Ministry of Education, Science and Education, and the Ministry of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, will alter the structure and paradigm of the National Scientific System as it coincides with the dissolution of the FCT, whose responsibilities it is intended to absorb,” the statement reads.
Livre emphasizes that the President of the Republic has expressed he “will not hesitate to veto” the dissolution of the FCT. Scientists across the country have reacted with “surprise and shock” to the decision, expressing concerns that the reform aims to reduce “science to the provision of services.”
“In response to the disbelief from those who engage in and promote science daily in Portugal, there have been reports indicating that no prior study recommended either the dissolution or merger of the FCT. Instead, they suggested a new organizational model, guided by scientific areas and inspired by similar international institutions,” it states.
Livre argues that state reform should not “be used to undermine science funding by merging fundamentally distinct roles into a single agency: managing science and financing innovation.”
“If the state loses the ability to fund science independently—fundamental and applied—in Portugal, through a robust institution that operates autonomously to finance science transparently and regularly, we are not progressing but rather regressing,” the party warns.
Livre calls for the urgent hearing of Fernando Alexandre, the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, to clarify “the reasons for the dissolution of the FCT and the future of science in Portugal.”
The reform in the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) was announced in July by Minister Fernando Alexandre, who revealed the dissolution of several entities—including the FCT—to be incorporated into new agencies as part of a restructuring plan to correct a system deemed “anachronistic,” “inadequate,” and with “too many” or even “redundant” entities in many cases.
The President of the Republic has not yet decided on the decree regarding the dissolution of the FCT.
