Lisbon, Aug. 5, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Minister of the Economy, Manuel Castro Almeida, has said that it was "a shame" that the European Union's proposed Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034 does not value the outermost regions, such as Madeira, and considered it necessary to negotiate a new solution.
“I think this is one of the areas where there will have to be a change and the countries with outermost regions will have to unite to impose a new solution that respects the specific characteristics of the outermost regions,” he said, stressing that these regions “have higher expenses” and therefore “need more support”.
The Minister of the Economy and Territorial Cohesion was speaking on Monday evening after a meeting with the Regional Secretary for the Economy of Madeira, José Manuel Rodrigues, which took place in Lisbon.
In an audio recording sent to the Lusa news agency, Manuel Castro Almeida regretted that the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034 proposed by the European Union (EU) cuts support for the outermost regions, such as the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
“It is a pity that the European Commission’s proposal does not value, as I think it should and as the regional secretary for the Economy of Madeira also thinks, the regions and especially the outermost regions, which must receive specific treatment that is not provided for in this proposal,” he said.
On 16 July, after several hours of negotiations between European commissioners, the first package of proposals on the next MFF 2028-2034 was presented in Brussels, with a total envelope of €2 trillion in commitments (at current prices), based on national contributions (based on gross national income) of 1.26%.
The proposal provides for a simplification of the EU's long-term budget, which will now include 16 programmes instead of 52, divided into €865 billion in national and regional partnership plans (including agricultural and cohesion structural funds) and €410 billion for the new European Fund for Competitiveness (including Horizon Europe and the Innovation Fund).
An additional €200 billion will be allocated to the EU's external action, €49 billion to Erasmus+ & AgoraEU and €292 billion to other areas.
on Monday, at the end of the meeting with the Minister of the Economy and Territorial Cohesion, the Regional Secretary for the Economy, José Manuel Rodrigues, stressed that the Madeira executive (PSD/CDS-PP) is concerned because the next Community support framework “cuts too much from the Cohesion Fund”.
“It is the Cohesion Fund that has been the mainstay of common European policies and the development and growth of all European regions, particularly the most disadvantaged ones,” he warned, stressing that the 2028-2034 MFF proposal “also almost completely ignores the reality of the outermost regions and their specific characteristics”.
José Manuel Rodrigues, also regional leader of the CDS-PP, said he had expressed the “dissatisfaction” of the Madeira Regional Government with the possibility of the POSEIMA (Specific Options Programme for the Remoteness and Insularity of Madeira and the Azores) being abolished.
“It is unacceptable that the European Union does not take into account the reality of the outermost regions, transport costs and how important POSEIMA is for regional agricultural production,” he said.
At the meeting with the Minister of the Economy, José Manuel Rodrigues also argued for the extension of the tax benefits of the Madeira International Business Centre (Free Zone) until at least 2033, as provided for in the state budget until 2026.
The regional secretary also warned of the need for Madeira to have a "physical and more active presence" in the Portuguese Development Bank, the state-owned bank to help business competitiveness, innovation, internationalisation, sustainability and the economic and social development of Portugal.
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