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IMO Adopts the World's Largest Emission Control Area Covering Mainland Portugal — North-East Atlantic ECA Caps Bunker Sulphur at 0.10% From 2028 With Tier III NOx for New Builds, Madeira and Açores Left Out

IMO Adopts the World's Largest Emission Control Area Covering Mainland Portugal — North-East Atlantic ECA Caps Bunker Sulphur at 0.10% From 2028 With Tier III NOx for New Builds, Madeira and Açores Left Out

MEPC 84 adopted the North-East Atlantic ECA on 1 May 2026, covering mainland Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, Ireland, Iceland, the Faroes and Greenland. The 0.10% sulphur bunker cap and Tier III NOx for new builds bite from 2028 — Madeira and the Açores are explicitly excluded.
The Portugal Brief
Brussels Refers Portugal to the Court of Justice for Failing to Transpose the RED III Renewables Directive — Lisbon Joins Athens and Valletta on the Defendants' Bench Almost a Year Past the 21 May 2025 Deadline

Brussels Refers Portugal to the Court of Justice for Failing to Transpose the RED III Renewables Directive — Lisbon Joins Athens and Valletta on the Defendants' Bench Almost a Year Past the 21 May 2025 Deadline

EC referred Portugal, Greece and Malta to the CJEU on Wednesday for failing to transpose RED III by the 21 May 2025 deadline. Lisbon faces Article-260(3) TFEU lump-sum and daily penalty exposure as the renewables-licensing reform sits stuck inside the Assembleia mid-July PRR recess deadline.
The Portugal Brief
EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement Begins Provisional Application on 1 May 2026 — Port Wine, Olive Oil and Metalomechanics Get Day-One Tariff Cuts as Beef and Rice Producers Brace for Quota-Driven Pressure

EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement Begins Provisional Application on 1 May 2026 — Port Wine, Olive Oil and Metalomechanics Get Day-One Tariff Cuts as Beef and Rice Producers Brace for Quota-Driven Pressure

The commercial pillar of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement begins provisional application on 1 May 2026. Portugal's wine, olive oil and metalomechanics exporters get day-one tariff cuts; beef, poultry and rice producers face quota-driven pressure with a safeguard clause Lisbon helped negotiate.
The Portugal Brief
Ryanair Demands Portugal Suspend the Entry-Exit System Until September After Two-Hour Queues at Faro, Funchal and Porto — Letter to Minister Luís Neves Cites Greece Precedent and EU's 90+60-Day Flexibility Window

Ryanair Demands Portugal Suspend the Entry-Exit System Until September After Two-Hour Queues at Faro, Funchal and Porto — Letter to Minister Luís Neves Cites Greece Precedent and EU's 90+60-Day Flexibility Window

Ryanair has formally asked Portugal to suspend the EU's biometric Entry-Exit System until after summer, citing one-to-two-hour queues at Faro, Porto and Funchal three weeks after launch. Greece has already exercised the EU's 90-day suspension carve-out.
The Portugal Brief
Brussels Opens an Infringement Case Over Salary-Scale Discrimination Against Fixed-Term Public-Sector Workers — Portugal Has Two Months to Realign the Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas With Directive 1999/70/EC

Brussels Opens an Infringement Case Over Salary-Scale Discrimination Against Fixed-Term Public-Sector Workers — Portugal Has Two Months to Realign the Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas With Directive 1999/70/EC

Brussels opens INFR(2026)4001 against Portugal for excluding fixed-term public-sector workers from salary-scale progression. Lisbon has two months to fix the LGTFP or face the EU Court of Justice — the second active case Wednesday's package landed on the Montenegro government.
The Portugal Brief