Regulatory State in Portugal: Developments and Performance
In Portugal, the activity of the regulatory authorities, which began in the early 1990s, has been insufficiently researched.
The state opted set up these independent bodies to enforce the rules introduced by the state itself, in order to ensure that the regulation of a given sector was as specialised and impartial as possible.
Among other important functions, these bodies are responsible for ensuring competition and the functioning of certain markets, as well as protecting the environment and consumers. This is the case in the health, communications, energy and media sectors, for example.
Regulators must therefore be independent of both political power and the companies they regulate, in the public interest.
And because these bodies have essential functions delegated to them by the state, it is essential to make citizens aware of how they work and how the regulatory system has changed in the last few decades.
To this end, this study is based on some basic questions:
- How has the regulatory state developed in Portugal since the set-up of the first regulatory bodies in the 1990s?
- Has the regulatory state improved or worsened due to the reforms introduced in 2013 during the Troika's Economic and Financial Assistance programme?
- How independent are the regulatory bodies?
- How politicised are the regulatory bodies targeted in the case studies (ERSE, the Competition Authority and ANACOM)?
- Has the creation of the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court in 2011 made justice more efficient and closer to citizens?
Through this study, Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos seeks to provide the public with more in-depth information about a sector that is still unknown to many.
