“Disseminating their results and the different solutions that promote their development is one of the biggest challenges that regional autonomies have to face nowadays,” defended the Regional Secretary for the Economy in Ponta Delgada on Friday.
Vasco Cordeiro, who spoke at the opening session of the colloquium on the “Azores: A legal analysis” (Açores: Uma reflexão jurídica), which was organised by the law office Sérvulo e Associados, considered that this challenge is based on the need to counter “the national tendency to reduce Autonomy to its constitutional or statutory dimension when it is much more than these formal aspects.”
Hence, for Vasco Cordeiro, “it is necessary to carry out a work that will make the Portuguese society acquainted with the merits of Regional Autonomy.” This is a work that should mainly demonstrate that the “different solutions that are found here also contribute to an effective national development.”
The Regional Secretary reminded that is also common to perceive “an attempt to limit the autonomy to structural conditions,” an attitude that is often based “on issues related to politicians and not to what regional economy really is as a model of government.”
“Autonomy serves national goals, so it is up to all those who deal with this reality to develop a strategy that will make the society acquainted with the results regarding the development of these regions,” defended Vasco Cordeiro.
“If the achieved results are disseminated throughout society, therefore autonomy itself will be recognised as a national goal,” concluded the Regional Secretary.