Portugal

This publication is part of the OECD workstream on Preparing Regions for Demographic Change. It elaborates a case study for the Portuguese region of Alentejo and focuses on improving the delivery of educational services taking into account the multi-level governance context. The study highlights the need to better articulate and co-ordinate the delivery of educational services among levels of government to improve access and quality. It also sheds light on the decisive role that geography plays and the importance of adopting a spatial lens to mitigate the rising inequality present in Portugal in access to education services. Alentejo is a rural region that expects to lose 30% of its population between 2020 and 2080, hence it needs to put in place forward-looking and effective policy levers to delivery sustainable education services to citizens living in rural communities.

Le Comité d’aide au développement (CAD) de l’OCDE procède à des examens par les pairs de ses membres une fois tous les cinq ou six ans. Ces examens visent à améliorer la qualité et l’efficacité de leur coopération pour le développement, en mettant en évidence les bonnes pratiques et en recommandant des améliorations. Le Portugal mobilise les compétences de l’ensemble de son administration et met fortement l’accent sur l’appropriation par les pays partenaires. Fort des relations bilatérales étroites qu’il a établies de longue date avec les pays partenaires, le Portugal concentre ses financements sur les pays où les besoins sont les plus grands. Par son action de plaidoyer efficace sur la scène internationale, le Portugal est un ardent défenseur de la coopération triangulaire et, en tant que président du Conseil de l’Union européenne, il a favorisé le consensus entre les membres de l’Union sur des questions comme le renforcement des initiatives Team Europe en faveur du développement humain. Cependant, le Portugal pourrait tirer davantage parti de la large participation des acteurs étatiques et non étatiques à ses activités de coopération pour le développement. Cet examen par les pairs formule un ensemble de recommandations destinées à améliorer la coordination entre les différentes composantes de l’administration, à rassembler les initiatives bilatérales, à accorder une plus grande attention aux réalisations et à prendre des mesures pour accroître l’aide publique au développement (APD).

Italy’s start-up visa aims to make the national start-up ecosystem more easily accessible to foreign talent, rich with knowledge and skills, and more integrated into global markets. Government reports show that the programme has not yet achieved a critical scale. The analysis of similar initiatives in Chile, France, Ireland and Portugal identifies five gateways for attracting more foreign entrepreneurs, such as an effective policy outreach, smooth inter-institutional co-operation across the migratory process, and the provision of sound support services for a 'soft landing' of entrepreneurs upon arrival. These takeaways may also inform new talent attraction policies targeting remote workers, an expanding group in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As 'market referees', regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour and governance are important factors in how regulators, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can create an organisational culture of performance and results. The report uses PAFER to assess elements linked to both the internal and external governance of Portugal’s Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE). The review acknowledges the well-respected status of ERSE within the institutional framework, analyses the key drivers of its performance, and identifies a number of challenges and opportunities to help the regulator prepare for the future, including in the context of deep market transformation and the COVID-19 crisis.

It is increasingly understood that entrepreneurship plays a critical role in economic growth and well-being. But which policies can governments develop to release its benefits? This publication offers guidance and inspiration. It identifies the range of entrepreneurship policies being pursued internationally, the problems the policies seek to solve and how they are designed and implemented. The focus is on how to create a broad base of start-ups with the potential for sustainability and growth by building a pipeline of new entrepreneurs, supporting start-ups to overcome barriers in areas such as skills, finance and innovation and stimulating vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems. The publication examines the rationale for entrepreneurship policy, presents a typology of policy approaches and highlights principles for policy success. The points are illustrated by 16 case studies of inspiring practice policies from 12 OECD countries. These cases span policies for regulations and taxation, entrepreneurship education and training, advice and coaching, access to finance, internationalisation, innovation, and holistic packages for ecosystem building. Helpful summary tables guide readers to the information that will respond to their questions. The publication will give readers an overview of key entrepreneurship policy interventions and tips on entrepreneurship policy success.

This policy brief was developed by the Secretariat of the OECD Network of Economic Regulators (NER) and is based on examples of practice submitted by members of the NER. It reviews emergency measures taken by economic regulators during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continuity of services in network sectors, as well as to adjust regulatory practices and adapt governance arrangements. It identifies long-term questions and implications of the crisis with regard to market structure, infrastructure investment and the role of regulators.

The governance of skills systems has always raised a number of challenges for governments. Being at the intersection of education, labour market, industrial and other policy domains, managing skills policies is inherently complex. Addressing these challenges is more than ever crucial as globalisation, technological progress and demographic change are putting daunting pressures on skills systems to ensure that all members of society are equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Strengthening the Governance of Skills Systems: Lessons from Six OECD Countries provides advice on how to make the governance of skills systems effective. Building on the OECD Skills Strategy 2019, which identified four main challenges of skills systems governance, the report presents examples of how six different countries (Estonia, Germany, Korea, Norway, Portugal and the United States) have responded to one or several of these challenges. It also outlines concrete policy recommendations together with a self-assessment tool which provides guidance to policy makers and stakeholders for designing better skills systems that deliver better skills outcomes.

This paper presents and discusses the general findings and key policy messages of the 2019 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index, and provides a detailed analysis of the results for each pillar and sub-pillar. Additionally, it assesses the main advancements and challenges related to the design and implementation of open government data (OGD) policies in OECD member and partner countries by comparing the results for 2019 with those of the 2017 edition. This policy paper contributes to the OECD work on the digital transformation of the public sector, including digital government and data-driven public sector and open government data.

Portugal has embarked on an ambitious agenda to guide the transformation of the justice sector. The report takes stock of the Portugal's justice sector modernisaton reforms and more current efforts to make the justice sector more transparent, accessible and effective. It examines specific programmes aimed at promoting innovation, humanisation and proximity to citizens through the use of digital technologies, simplification and demateralisation of procedures. Finally, the report identifies results and provide policy recommendations to support Portugal on its journey to provide justice services to meet the needs of citizens and businesses.

Les gouvernements du XXIe siècle doivent suivre l'évolution des attentes de leurs citoyens et tenir les promesses de l'ère numérique. Les approches basées sur les données sont particulièrement efficaces pour répondre à ces attentes et repenser la manière dont les gouvernements et les citoyens interagissent. Ce rapport souligne le rôle important que les données peuvent jouer dans la création de conditions améliorant les services publics, augmentant l'efficacité des dépenses publiques et éclairant les considérations éthiques et de confidentialité. Il présente un cadre du secteur public fondé sur les données pouvant aider les pays ou les organisations à évaluer les éléments nécessaires à l'utilisation des données afin de prendre des décisions mieux informées dans tous les secteurs publics.