The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, addressed the issue of the dissolution of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), which occurred as part of the government’s announced state reform, on Friday.
When questioned about this ‘cut’, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that he saw “the scheme presented by the Government.” “I saw the PowerPoint, the scheme presented by the Government regarding the objective, which is to reduce structures, reduce directions, services, positions, to economize efforts on one hand and to make Public Administration more effective on the other,” he affirmed.
With 18 entities and 27 senior managers among the services of the non-higher education system and higher education, science, and innovation, MECI will now have only seven entities and 27 senior managers, integrating the extinguished entities into new ones.
Lusa | 15:42 – 31/07/2025
He emphasized that while there may be a need to reduce structures “that can increase bureaucracy,” he pointed out: “At the same time, we have to consider that, as with everything in life, there is another side of reality. And the other side of the reality is to know if there are units that are so important that they need to be reformed, but that pure extinction alone may not be a good idea.”
The head of state cited the example of SEF, which was dissolved. “There were consecutive delays over three and a half years, resulting in numerous entities doing what SEF used to do. The number of entities increased. Some existed, others were created. Extinctions can be good or bad,” he commented.
Marcelo confessed that when looking at “those diagrams,” referring to the PowerPoint presented by the Executive, his interpretation was that “there was a feeling” that [the FCT] was replaced “by an agency that integrated it and had other functions besides those of the FCT.”
Marcelo acknowledged that the foundation was a “very old structure” and that “many aspects deserved to be reconsidered,” but stated: “Only by seeing what the new agency will do can I answer whether this extinction is a good or bad idea.”
The promulgation (and the criticisms)
As for the possible ‘green light’ from Belém, Marcelo said that if he thinks this extinction is “good,” he will enact the decree “without anguish.”
“If I have doubts about a point in the decree that is very important, I will ask the Government to reconsider. It has happened before. I may not veto immediately. If the Government insists, I may end up vetoing, if it goes till the end of my term,” he admitted.
When questioned if the State’s pressure and reforms allowed enough time to properly evaluate the scope of the FCT, Marcelo said “the Government can argue that from the European Commission there are goals and objectives, even to access European funds.”
“This Government is one case, but previous ones also faced this difficulty,” he recalled, adding that it could be ‘the shadow’ of Brussels also influencing a possible extinction to align more closely with the European model.
“I understand this and often have been told: it has to be now, you have to enact tomorrow, otherwise we lose money. You have to enact the day after tomorrow, or we lose the opportunity for structural funds,” he exemplified.
