State Budget and General State Accounts
Major Options of the Plan
The budgetary procedure starts with the submission by the Government to the Assembleia da República, by 15 April at the latest, of the annual update to the Stability Programme for the following four years and the government bill on the Major Options.
The annual revision of the Stability Programme includes a draft update to the multiannual public expenditure and revenue framework, without prejudice to its materialisation in the Law governing the Major Options.
The Law governing the Major Options is structured in two parts: identification and planning of economic policy options and multiannual budgetary programming for the central government and social security subsectors.
The power to initiate bills on the Major Options of the Plan and the State Budget lies exclusively with the Government. Indeed, although Members of the Assembleia da República do not have the original right of initiative, they can propose amendments before they vote. Another essential element for considering and voting on the Major Options of the Plan is the opinion of the Economic and Social Council, which must be issued before the government bill is presented to the Assembleia da República.
(As set out in Article 92 of the Constitution, Article 2(1)(a) of Law no. 108/91 of 17 August 1991, and also Article 9(3) of Law no. 43/91 of 27 July 1991).
On the Stability Programme
The Stability Programme (called the Stability and Growth Programme until 2014) forms part of the Portuguese state's obligations within the European Union (EU). It marks the start of the budgetary procedure, in line with the other EU Member States, in a process called the European Semester.
Therefore, the Government submits the updated Stability Programme to the Assembleia da República by 15 April at the latest, for consideration within a period of ten days, before sending it to the European Commission.
The annual revision of the Stability Programme includes a draft update to the multiannual public expenditure and revenue framework, without prejudice to its materialisation in the Law governing the Major Options.
General State Accounts
The State Budget implementation is scrutinised by the Court of Auditors and the Assembleia da República, which, following an opinion issued by the Court of Auditors, considers and approves the General State Accounts, including the social security accounts. The Government submits the General State Accounts by 15 May of the year following that which they concern. They comprise the set of accounts regarding the entities that fall within the State Budget perimeter, a report, the budgetary and financial statements and the notes thereto. They are submitted to the Court of Auditors for the issuance of an opinion within the same time limit. The Court of Auditors then forwards the opinion to the Assembleia da República by 30 September at the latest.
On the State Budget
The State Budget, a management instrument containing a detailed estimate of the state's revenue and expenditure, including those of autonomous funds and services and the social security budget, is the exclusive initiative of the Government. The State Budget bill for the following economic year must be submitted to the Assembleia da República by 10 October each year. The debate on this initiative is subject to a special legislative procedure. You can access the text of the government bill, the charts, the sectoral documents and the State Budget report submitted by the Ministry of Finance, as well as the technical opinion drawn up by the Technical Budget Support Unit (UTAO) on the government bill.
During the debate, you can also access any draft amendments that have been submitted, the sectoral documents made available by the different members of the Government relating to their areas of work, and all voting records.
Voting on the State Budget bill takes place within a time limit of 50 days following the date on which the bill is admitted by the Assembleia da República.