“With this, we can improve the State’s operational capability, enhance its specialization, reduce its structures, and therefore also save taxpayers money (…), in a process that is ongoing and will continue,” said Leitão Amaro during a press conference following today’s Council of Ministers meeting.
The measure aims to coordinate the planning and decision-making at the regional level, without implying a process of regionalization or centralization, but rather “coordinated deconcentration,” with the CCDRs remaining as state entities, the minister stated.
The new vice-presidents will be designated by the government and will have specific oversight in each sector.
Leitão Amaro confirmed that the election of the presidents and vice-presidents of the CCDRs will still be conducted regionally, through municipalities and regional councils. However, the new sectoral vice-presidents will be appointed by the government and will report to the respective ministries.
“It seemed like we were going to create five new positions. No. There are five strong roles to ensure regional coordination, this is true, but it’s not a new entity,” he clarified, adding that it is about strengthening coordination and reducing structures.
Alongside the Minister of State and Administrative Reform, Gonçalo Matias, the minister responsible for the presidency explained that responsibilities will be transferred to the CCDRs, which already function in agriculture, culture, education, and environment sectors, and will also assume responsibilities in health.
The new vice-presidents will not have routine management duties; their responsibilities will include identifying regional priorities, planning infrastructure and equipment, and coordinating public health policies.
The minister emphasized that consolidating functions into a single entity will enable efficiency gains and better operational capacity for the State, with increased specialization and savings for the taxpayers.
The creation of the vice-presidencies was previously mentioned today by Jornal de Notícias (JN).
This measure partially retrieves the competencies of the now-defunct Regional Health Administrations (ARS) and is part of the decentralization process.
Leitão Amaro recalled that the ARSs were autonomous bodies with regional functions, but the dissolution process was a “calvary” and carried out precipitously.
The Minister of State and Administrative Reform added that the CCDRs will be responsible for identifying priorities and managing major infrastructure and equipment investments. They will use their proximity to the territory to decide on structural projects and needs.
The new functions will be carried out in coordination with the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (SNS) in specific cases, such as cross-border initiatives.
Gonçalo Matias emphasized that “there is no overlap or substitution,” but rather coordination among entities.
With this reorganization, the government aims to strengthen regional planning capacity and align decisions with the actual needs of the populations while maintaining the connection to the central structures of the SNS.
