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Parliament Moves to Stop Twenty-Two Competition Authority Cases Worth €800 Million From Going Out the Door on Prescription — Lawyers Warn the Retroactive Fix Will Land at the Constitutional Court

Parliament Moves to Stop Twenty-Two Competition Authority Cases Worth €800 Million From Going Out the Door on Prescription — Lawyers Warn the Retroactive Fix Will Land at the Constitutional Court

Parliament is debating a draft Concorrência amendment that would freeze prescription clocks for 22 ongoing AdC cases — fines totalling roughly €800 million, much on the food-distribution cartel — currently at risk of being annulled by elapsed time. Lawyers warn of retroactivity.
The Portugal Brief
INE's March Unemployment Read Holds at 5.8% as the Labour Underutilisation Rate Slips to 9.8% — Employed Population Reaches 5.07 Million, the Highest March Reading in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey Series

INE's March Unemployment Read Holds at 5.8% as the Labour Underutilisation Rate Slips to 9.8% — Employed Population Reaches 5.07 Million, the Highest March Reading in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey Series

INE's provisional March 2026 release leaves the unemployment rate at 5.8% — flat on February, 0.5pp below March 2025 — while labour underutilisation eases to 9.8%. The employed population sits at 5.07 million, the strongest March reading in the LFS series.
The Portugal Brief
Lone Star Closes the Door on Eight Years at Novo Banco as French Group BPCE Takes 100% Ownership Today — Portugal's Fourth-Largest Bank Crosses Into the Hands of Europe's Second-Biggest Cooperative on 30 April 2026

Lone Star Closes the Door on Eight Years at Novo Banco as French Group BPCE Takes 100% Ownership Today — Portugal's Fourth-Largest Bank Crosses Into the Hands of Europe's Second-Biggest Cooperative on 30 April 2026

BPCE — the French cooperative banking group behind Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Épargne — completes the €6.4 billion acquisition of Novo Banco on 30 April, ending Lone Star's eight-year ownership and folding Portugal's fourth-largest bank into a 32-million-customer European retail group.
The Portugal Brief
CP More Than Doubles Its 2025 Profit to €4.8 Million on a Record 208 Million Passengers — Comboios de Portugal Exits the General Government Sector and Will Gain Procurement Autonomy in 2027

CP More Than Doubles Its 2025 Profit to €4.8 Million on a Record 208 Million Passengers — Comboios de Portugal Exits the General Government Sector and Will Gain Procurement Autonomy in 2027

Comboios de Portugal closed 2025 with a €4.8M profit — up 166% — on 208M passengers, helped by the €20 Passe Ferroviário Verde. INE has now removed CP from the general government institutional sector register, which from 2027 will hand the operator full management and procurement autonomy.
The Portugal Brief
Importing a Car to Portugal in 2026 — The Transferência de Residência ISV Exemption, the DAV Customs Declaration, the Modelo 112 Inspection, the IMT Homologation, and What the Process Actually Costs

Importing a Car to Portugal in 2026 — The Transferência de Residência ISV Exemption, the DAV Customs Declaration, the Modelo 112 Inspection, the IMT Homologation, and What the Process Actually Costs

Bringing a car when you move to Portugal can be tax-free under the transferência de residência exemption — six months abroad, six months ownership, a 12-month application window, and a 12-month sale ban. Outside that, ISV plus legalisation runs €750 to €10,000-plus. The procedure walked end to end.
The Portugal Brief