During a Budget and Finance Commission meeting at the Assembly of the Republic, urgent discussions were held regarding the Government’s proposed 2026 State Budget, following a request from the Constitutional Court (TC) for a budget increase.
One of the most critical interventions against the TC’s request for an additional 1.6 million euros came from Social Democratic Party (PSD) deputy Hugo Carneiro.
Hugo Carneiro described the manner of the hearing as “unprecedented” and accused it of fostering “speculation in the media.”
The PSD deputy highlighted that, between 2021 and 2026, the TC’s budget for its services and autonomous funds increased by nearly one million euros over five years, emphasizing that “neither the Government nor parliament decides how the court spends its budget.”
“Upon analyzing the TC budget, it is evident that the overall allocation to the TC from 2021 to 2026 has gradually increased for the court’s own services, excluding the entities for transparency and accounts. This allocation increased by 1.6 million euros for its services alone, with a 700,000-euro rise between 2025 and 2026,” he noted.
According to Carneiro, the court “reallocated around 250,000 euros from the accounts entity and approximately 268,000 euros from the transparency entity between 2025 and 2026.”
“This allocation was not made by the Government or the Assembly of the Republic, but by the court,” he stressed, while criticizing the TC’s low budget execution and questioning the objective of fleet renewal.
The CDS parliamentary leader, Paulo Núncio, aligned with this view, labeling the TC’s hearing request as “untimely” and asserting that the court’s annual budget increases via State Budget transfers and by reallocating funds from its attached entities.
Following the PSD intervention, PS Vice-President Pedro Delgado Alves remarked that while the hearing was unprecedented, it was so for different reasons.
“Today, the constitutional judges are here following a unanimous decision by the court’s judges. If anything is unprecedented, it’s that the TC judges found it necessary to request this hearing collectively,” he emphasized.
Pedro Delgado Alves indicated that “this session could have been avoided if there had been a different response from the Government.”
Prior to this, Chega deputy Eduardo Teixeira had deemed the concerns expressed by the TC president as “relevant,” expressing dismay at the delay in the Prime Minister’s response to a letter from one of Portugal’s top officials, sent in late August and only recently addressed.
PCP deputy Alfredo Maia labeled the Prime Minister’s “disrespectful” treatment of the TC president as “inexcusable,” reflecting the Government’s attitude towards this sovereign entity.
From Livre, Patrícia Gonçalves pointed out the relatively small sum of 1.6 million euros within the 2026 Budget and voiced concern over the Government’s approach to this sovereign body.
Meanwhile, Left Bloc deputy Mariana Mortágua criticized PSD deputy Hugo Carneiro, accusing him of making a “suggestion regarding car fleets.”
According to Mariana Mortágua, this “false” argument implied that the “TC is seeking funds to spend on luxury vehicles.”
