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A Portuguese Navy frigate, pennant number F333, at sea as a Lynx helicopter approaches to land — the kind of ship Portugal plans to buy through the EU's SAFE defence programme

A Transparency Watchdog Faults the Oversight of Portugal's €5.8 Billion EU Defence Loan as Little More Than After-the-Fact Control

Transparency International Portugal has judged the government's oversight model for the €5.8 billion SAFE defence-loan programme 'clearly insufficient,' warning it reduces scrutiny of frigates, vehicles and drones to a 'mere ex-post control' by bodies that answer to the ministers who authorise the s

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

A Justice Overhaul Would Pull Public Prosecutors Out of Small State Lawsuits to Speed Portugal's Slowest Courts

A Justice Overhaul Would Pull Public Prosecutors Out of Small State Lawsuits to Speed Portugal's Slowest Courts

The government's administrative-justice reform, now six bills before Parliament, would stop public prosecutors intervening in state lawsuits worth up to €15,000 — one piece of a push to clear courts where cases average 861 days.

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

Portugal's Public Payroll Climbs to a Record 768,378, With Town Halls Outpacing the Central State

Portugal's Public Payroll Climbs to a Record 768,378, With Town Halls Outpacing the Central State

The state employed 768,378 people at the end of June 2026, a new high, official DGAEP data show — up 1% on the year, with local councils, health and education driving the growth as public pay outpaces inflation.

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

Portugal Has the Science to Climate-Proof Its Land. A New Report Says It Lacks the Nerve to Act.

Portugal Has the Science to Climate-Proof Its Land. A New Report Says It Lacks the Nerve to Act.

Portugal already knows how to protect its soil and forests from a changing climate, a new report argues. What it lacks is the nerve to set targets, the centralised data to back them and the institutions to turn science into policy.

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

The Socialists Launch Their Autumn Offensive in Olhão, With the 2027 Budget the Real Prize

The Socialists Launch Their Autumn Offensive in Olhão, With the 2027 Budget the Real Prize

The Socialists open Portugal's political autumn on Sunday in Olhão with a frontal attack on the government over the cost of living, health and crisis response — while keeping their real leverage, the 2027 State Budget, in reserve.

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

Portugal's 2021 Floating-Solar Auction Has All but Collapsed, and EDP's Exit From the Alqueva Leaves Only One Plant Standing

Portugal's 2021 Floating-Solar Auction Has All but Collapsed, and EDP's Exit From the Alqueva Leaves Only One Plant Standing

Four years after Portugal auctioned its reservoirs for floating solar, five of six plants have failed and EDP has abandoned the biggest — the Grande Lago on the Alqueva. Wildlife rules and thin economics explain a stalled bet.

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

The glass entrance of the Edificio Victoria on Lisbon's Avenida da Liberdade, the office building that houses Euronext Lisbon, with international flags above a curved metal canopy

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Closes Week Up, TAP Sale Nears, Sonae Eyes Malls

📋 In This Edition * Weekend Wrap: A Holiday Close to a Quietly Positive Week * The Deal Table: Two Rivals Circle TAP, and the State Bets on Getting Its Money Back * Retail & Real Estate: Sonae and Norway's Sovereign Fund Turn Their Gaze Home * Markets, Bonds and the Euro: A

The Portugal Brief 15 Aug 2026

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