Portugal

This report looks at efforts by Portugal’s Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas, TdC) to make better use of data and analytics in assessing risks in public procurement. It identifies key financial and non-financial risks to refine the TdC’s audit selection process and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the public procurement system. The report provides recommendations for improving and maintaining data-driven risk assessments that align with the TdC’s Digital Transformation Strategy. The report also includes a data-mapping exercise and data reliability assessment in preparation for the next phase of the project, which includes developing a working model to detect procurement risks and irregularities using real-world data.

This report assesses the modernisation of the justice sector in Portugal. It examines the country's progress towards a people-centred justice system and a modernised justice sector and offers a range of recommendations to sustain and amplify this progress. It highlights the importance of adopting continuous assessments of legal needs, designing and delivering services with a people-centred purpose; upskilling the justice sector to meet the demands of a digitally enabled and people-centred justice system; enhancing the availability, quality, and use of data and statistical systems; and using digital technologies and data to improve the accessibility, efficiency, and responsiveness of the justice system in Portugal.

The Civic Space Review of Portugal provides an in-depth analysis of the national legal frameworks, policies, institutions, and practices relevant to civic space protection, with an emphasis on harnessing user input to facilitate people-centred public service reforms. The Review assesses three key areas: 1) protecting the civic freedoms and information environment that create the conditions for public service reforms; 2) strengthening stakeholder and citizen participation in the process; and 3) moving towards more inclusive, accessible and people-centred public service design and delivery. The two case studies and concrete recommendations in the review offer a tangible path towards more inclusive, participatory public services that place citizens at their core.

This policy paper provides an analysis of the new the Portuguese Competence Centre for Planning, Policy and Foresight in Public Administration (PlanAPP) and its functions in Portugal, focusing on strategic planning and networking activities. It analyses the role of PlanAPP in aligning and harmonising the strategic planning process and in ensuring evidence-informed, inclusive and co-ordinated strategic planning, particularly through RePLAN, Portugal’s Public Administration Planning and Foresight Services Network. The paper makes recommendations to help Portugal effectively implement the competency centre model, consolidate its strategic planning process, better define and co-ordinate high-level priorities, and set a path to achieve them effectively and coherently.

This report summarises the results of collaborative work carried out by OECD and PlanAPP, the Competence Centre for Planning, Policy, and Foresight in Public Administration in Portugal. It presents the main findings and recommendations on four strategic priorities for the country: i) evidence-informed policymaking and trust, ii) public policy evaluation, iii) strategic foresight and iv) strategic planning.

The frequency and severity of extreme wildfires are on the rise in Portugal, causing unprecedented disruption and increasingly challenging the country’s capacity to contain losses and damages. These challenges are set to keep growing in the context of climate change, highlighting the need to scale up wildfire prevention and climate change adaptation. This paper provides an overview of Portugal’s wildfire policies and practices and assesses the extent to which wildfire management in the country is evolving to adapt to growing wildfire risk under climate change.

The Rethinking Regional Attractiveness in the New Global Environment report highlights lessons learned from multiple regional case studies from five EU countries (Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), additional work with Latin American and Caribbean regions, and a series of webinars and one-on-one dialogues on rethinking regional attractiveness. The OECD’s innovative multidimensional approach to assessing regional attractiveness considers global engagement beyond international connections and economic factors alone. The methodology considers more than 50 indicators to develop regional attractiveness profiles covering six domains of attractiveness: economic attraction, connectedness, visitor appeal, natural environment, resident well-being, and land-use and housing. The report helps regional and national policy makers to understand how individual regions fare in a new global environment that continues to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, compounded by the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and existing megatrends – all of which produce asymmetric impacts within and between countries and regions – and identify the policy levers available to enhance their attractiveness to the international target groups of investors, talent, and visitors. It also considers the need to co-ordinate across levels of government, across policy fields, and with private stakeholders, and highlights good practices to implement regional attractiveness policies.

This report provides a global assessment and outlook on wildfire risk in the context of climate change. It discusses the drivers behind the growing incidence of extreme wildfires and the attribution effect of climate change. It outlines the environmental, social and economic impacts of wildfires by illustrating the losses and costs observed during recent extreme wildfire events. Building on this, the report presents the findings of a cross-country comparative analysis of how countries’ policies and practices have evolved in recent years in light of observed and projected changes in wildfire risk. The analysis draws on in-depth case studies conducted in Australia, Costa Rica, Greece, Portugal and the United States. The report underlines the urgent need for governments to scale up climate change adaptation efforts to limit future wildfire costs.

This paper builds on the results of the OECD Trust Survey in Portugal to identify the main areas for improvement and guidelines for action to help Portugal reinforce trust and democracy and enhance public governance to address future challenges. The Portuguese government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis drew on lessons learned from previous crises, notably the plunge in public trust after the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent economic austerity measures which shook the political system and considerably impacted economic and social well-being. Public trust has traditionally been heralded as crucial for public governance. However, to build resilience in the face of multiple social, economic and environmental crises, Portugal will need to set public trust as an explicit policy objective and better understand what drives it. Investments in building a competent and trusted civil service will also be needed to develop more responsive and better-informed policy responses.

Portugal managed to decouple several environmental pressures from economic growth over 2013-19. It played a leading role in the approval of the European Climate Law and adopted the Portuguese Framework Climate Law in 2021. This needs to be swiftly implemented to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, improve climate resilience and protect ecosystems. Portugal has stepped up adaptation efforts but needs to do more to address multiple threats, including coastal erosion, floods, droughts and forest fires. The country is lagging behind in waste management. Meanwhile, the increase in freshwater abstractions in water-scarce southern regions is a concern. This is the fourth Environmental Performance Review of Portugal. It provides an evidence-based assessment of the country's progress towards its environmental goals over the past decade. The 26 recommendations aim to help Portugal improve its environmental performance, giving special focus to carbon neutrality.