Making laws: Portugal and Europe

When it comes to laws, there is often controversy about their material and formal quality. This was the starting point for a reflection on lawmaking in Portugal, but also for a comparative approach to the legislative policy of the European Union, the OECD and some European countries – the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Switzerland – which have been adopting principles and instruments that have clearly contributed to better quality legislation.

This work, presented in this study by João Caupers, Marta Tavares de Almeida and Pierre Guibentif, analyses a number of aspects of the legislative process in Portugal and in the other contexts analysed, such as:

• The principles and legal framework governing legislative production in Portugal and in the comparative cases
• The process of drafting, enacting and implementing legislation, in accordance with the law and procedural rules, and how this contributes (or not) to the material and formal quality of the law
• The role of the different institutions in the legislative process, in Portugal and in comparative cases
• To what extent the reality of Portuguese lawmaking is in line with the programmes, principles and instruments proposed by the OECD and the European Union.

With this set of data, FFMS sought to provide the basis for an informed discussion on this matter and to propose recommendations for consideration and debate by political decision-makers.