Portugal – Greening the European economy: Responses and initiatives by Member States and social partners
The Portuguese government’s current anti-crisis programme does not have a general approach to greening the economy, but it includes an important investment in renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Ministry of Labour is preparing an initiative designed to achieve a better coordination of governmental efforts for green employment. Unions show a more positive attitude towards green issues than employers. All social partners still lack expertise in this area, but unions have already begun to build up some capacity. Tripartite negotiations do not focus on greening the economy, yet, but the government may soon take an initiative in this direction.
Mapping Member State responses, initiatives and tools
Please describe the main actions and policy strategies of your country in the following areas:
1) In the context of the current global recession, has an economic recovery program or strategy been launched by the national government in the last 12 months? If so, what coverage, attention, actions are envisaged with a view to greening the national economy, with a focus on employment, as a way of emerging from the present downturn? If there is a wide range of issues, please focus on the main issues.
In March 2009 the Law 10/2009 that regulates the budgetary implications of the government’s Programme “Initiative for Investment and Employment” (IIE) came into force. According to this law (http://dre.pt/pdfgratis/2009/03/04800.pdf) the IIE has the objective to promote economic growth and employment, to contribute to the modernisation and competitiveness of the country, to improve the qualification of the workforce, to increase the country’s energetic independence and efficiency, and to contribute to environmental sustainability and social cohesion.
The Programme has five lines of action:
- The modernisation of schools;
- The promotion of renewable energies and of energy efficiency and the modernisation of the network for the transport of energy;
- The modernisation of technological infrastructures, namely the new generation of broad band networks;
- Special incentives to economic activity in general, to exportations and to SMEs;
- Incentives for employment and reinforcement of social protection.
The programme is financed by the state budget 2009 and receives an extra fund from the national government (€ 980 million) and the EU (€ 740 million). According to calculations by the Ministry of Finance the IIE will increase the budgetary deficit in 2009 by 0.9 percentage points.
The only item that deals in particular with greening the national economy is the one dedicated to energy (b: renewable, efficiency, transport). The other items may create some synergies with greening efforts (modernisation of schools may include equipments for teaching green issues; technological modernisation will probably include green innovations; incentives for employment may have green aspects, particularly in the area of VET), but this is not their explicit purpose
2) Have there been any specific ministries or government departments set up to deal with green issues? If so, what is their mandate and remit?
The IIE is coordinated by the Ministry of Finance. There is no specific entity to deal with green issues inside the IIE.
Green issues are generally coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development (MAOTDR). The MAOTDR coordinates the government’s policies for the environment and its efforts to comply with the international accords on the combat against climate change. (Examples: agreement with Renault-Nissan on the introduction of electrical cars in Portugal (November 2008), incentives for entrepreneurial initiatives for recycling of cars and waste from packaging (2009).
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation is responsible for energy issues.
Green employment is at the moment a top priority at the Ministry of Labour (MTSS). This ministry is currently preparing an initiative designed to achieve a better coordination of governmental efforts for green employment.
3) Have any tripartite social dialogue structures and/or procedures been set up to deal with green issues? If so, what is their aim and how do they operate? If there are a wide range of structures and procedures, please focus on the main ones.
There is no specific tripartite body for green issues. The Standing Committee for Social Concertation (CPCS) is the central body for tripartite macro-level negotiations. The CPCS is monitoring the crisis and the policies against it, but it does not focus on green issues.
The employers and union confederations who have access to the CPCS are also members of the National Council of Sustainable Development (CNADS). The CNADS is an autonomous consultative body composed by government officials from all levels (national, regional and local) and a broad set of organisations of the civil society. At the moment a tripartite working group on sustainable development and environment is being re-constituted inside the CNADS.
4) Have there been any of the following initiatives or actions in your country: Where the answer is yes, please provide a brief account of each one, focusing on the main ones.
- awareness-raising initiatives
- the 1990s the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Environment have published a set of studies that focus on greening the economy. Awareness-raising is part of the communication strategy in the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (PNAEE 2008-2015). Furthermore, the PNAEE includes training and awareness actions for energy managers in manufacturing and campaigns for energy efficiency at home and at work.
- actions targeting specific sectors
- government has made a significant effort to create green clusters in industry and services, particularly in the area of renewable energies and energy efficiency. The PNAEE focuses on transports, residential and services, and manufacturing.
- actions involving green procurement
- PNAEE sets the aim that by 2010 half of the public tenders will include environmental criteria within the scope of energy efficiency and decentralised energy production measures.
- financial support and stimulus packages to boost eco-innovation
- government supports innovation in the area of renewable energies.
- support for green start-ups and entrepreneurial schemes
- training programmes to prepare the workforce for the transition to the green economy
The central governmental VET-initiative (New Opportunities) includes courses for “Technicians in Environmental Management” and “Technicians in Health, Safety and Environment at the Workplace”. The Institute for Quality in Vocational Training (IQF) has presented a systematic overview of qualification measures for green jobs (university and polytechnic courses, initial and continuous VET) and a set of qualification profiles in green jobs.
- investment schemes in emerging products and services that could lead to the creation of green jobs in the future
- any other relevant initiatives or actions
Mapping social partner responses, initiatives and tools
Please summarise the main unilateral and bipartite initiatives in your country in the following areas:
5) Positioning and stance in relation to the green agenda (eg any position papers)
There are considerable differences between social partners’ organisations in relation to the intensity of the debate on green issues and the positions they formulate. They have in common that none of them considers greening the economy a priority and none of them has developed a coherent position on the issue (for instance in form of a position paper). Trade unions use to formulate positive and general statements on green issues in their programmatic documents.
6) Attitudes and approaches of the social partners in relation to the green agenda
Trade unions seem to have a stronger and growing interest in the issue than employers’ associations. CGTP and UGT include systematically environmental issues in their political discourse and demands.
The industrialists’ confederation CIP has a critical position in relation to the government’s effort to promote renewable energies and energy efficiency. CIP argues that the cheapest sources of energy are coal and nuclear power, and that other options have to be evaluated in the light of their costs. CIP is in favour of reducing subsidies to wind energy and restraints on investments in other renewable.
It seems that employers tend to be more sceptical about greening the economy because they are worried about possible extra-costs that may affect their competitiveness. Unions, on the other hand, seem to be much more optimistic in relation to the job opportunities of a green economy.
7) Any unilateral and joint strategies and actions, including:
- awareness-raising campaigns for members
- bilateral dialogue structures, including those at sectoral level
- capacity-building initiatives
Since 2007 one of UGT’s Executive Committee members is responsible for the area environment. At its congress in 2009 this confederation scheduled the creation of a working group on green issues. UGT is preparing to introduce environmental issues into its training activities for negotiators of collective agreements.
CGTP’s Executive Committee elected after its Congress in 2008 a member with the responsibility for “Sustainable Development” and created a department covering this area and three others (environment, consumers’ rights and social economy).
- training programmes for members
8) The main initiatives for reviving the economy and promoting the green agenda, both general and sector-specific
Unions focus in their positions towards anti-crisis measures on the preservation of existing jobs, the stimulation of the economy, social protection and workers’ rights. They do not refer explicitly to green issues.
CIP also ignores the green agenda in its list of demands for reviving the economy and points out that public expense shall be geared towards the immediate increase of the economy’s growth potentials and of the country’s external competitiveness.
9) Any relevant studies and research
In 2000 the Ministry of Labour published a “Guide for the creation of <Green Jobs> at local level” (in Portuguese). In 2006 the IQF produced an extensive study “The environment sector in Portugal” (in Portuguese), and one year later the Ministry of Environment published a major report on “Environment, Innovation and Economic Competitiveness” (in Portuguese). The Ministry of Labour has recently commissioned a consultancy firm to elaborate a report on green jobs in Portugal.
10) Any other relevant responses, initiatives or tools
11) Views of the national centre
During the second half of the 1990s green issues gained a significant importance for the government and in the public debate. Since then many political, legal and administrative instruments for greening the economy were created. The recession in 2001-3 and the subsequent crisis in public finance put the question of economic growth and austerity on the top of the political agenda, increasing the risk that green issues might be pushed to a secondary plan. The recent crisis has aggravated this trend, but strong economic arguments have contributed to the present government’s consequent investment in renewable energies and energy efficiency. External political factors have also had an important role in avoiding an anti-environmental backlash. The dynamics inside the EU have contributed to put green jobs on the top of the Portuguese Labour Ministry’s agenda.
Reinhard Naumann, DINAMIA