Drugs and Tuition Fees, Legislative Impact Assessments
For around 50 years, there was an annual tuition fee of six euros for students in Portuguese public higher education. In 1992, a sharp increase in this sum was approved. After a troubled period until the constitutionality of this rule was verified, the annual tuition fee of six euros was reinstated in 1996.
The following year, through Law 113/97, the bases for funding higher education were established, making it clear that there was a tripartite relationship between the state, educational institutions and students in the funding of public higher education, reintroducing the payment of tuition fees by students in public higher education and reorganising the social action mechanisms, particularly the awarding of scholarships to the neediest students.
The National Strategy to Combat Drugs, which came into force in 1999, takes on a new paradigm in relation to the problem of drugs, which has led it to international debates as an example to follow. The national strategy aims to prevent drug use (especially in the younger age groups), treat drug addicts, reduce the damage caused by drug addiction, deter drug use, reintegrate people into society and combat illicit trafficking and money laundering.
This study, commissioned by FFMS from the Centre for Management Studies and Applied Economics (CEGEA), at the Catholic University of Porto School of Economics and Management, seeks to assess, in retrospect, the impact of the implementation of Law 113/97, of 16 September – the Law on Funding Public Higher Education – and Council of Ministers Resolution 46/99 – the National Strategy to Combat Drugs. To this end, it looks at issues such as:
- What are the effects of the Public Higher Education Funding Law on access to and attending public higher education?
- What benefits and costs has it brought, both for individuals and for the state?
- What impact has it had on the functioning of markets and competition?
- What impact has the adoption of the National Drugs Strategy had?
- What are the costs associated with healthcare?
- What other costs has it incurred?
Through this study, FFMS sought to contribute not only to understanding the costs and benefits of specific legislative policies and measures (tuition fees and the fight against drugs), but also to put the very subject of legislative assessment at the centre of public debate.
