The Vice-President of the Government expressed today his satisfaction with the State Budget proposal for 2019, considering that it corresponds to "the proposals of the Azores and reveals "a considerable attention on the part of the National Government towards the Region" by recognising it in the national context.
 
"Satisfaction, because it culminates in a joint work carried out between the Azorean Government and the National Government, which made possible to implement this State Budget proposal. It corresponds to the proposals presented by the Government of the Azores," said Sérgio Ávila.
 
The proposed State Budget (OE) for 2019 provides for an increase of 285.2 million Euros in transfers to the Azores under the Regional Finance Law.
 
"This proposal demonstrates, on part of the National Government, a great deal of attention to the Azores, the recognition of our Region and, particularly, the appreciation of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in the national context, which was unprecedented in the past with the previous Government," stressed the government official.
 
According to the government official, the proposal demonstrates "the National Government's effective and actual solidarity towards the Azores." In this context, Sérgio Ávila stated that we are "satisfied with the implementation of the proposals and recommendations made by the Region and the joint work, “as the National Government will include these proposals in the State Budget for 2019; the latter "fully complies" with the Regional Finance Law.
 
"I would also like to emphasise the full commitment to reinforce the Public Service Obligations for inter-island air transport. For the first time last year, and after many years of demands by the Azores, the National Government agreed to subsidise, with the contribution for 2019 being substantially higher than this year," said the government official.
 
The Vice-President of the Government also highlighted as important measures the introduction of the legislative amendment that allows the Azores to collect, on its own right, part of the social public gaming revenue as well as the definitive resolution of problem concerning the care of displaced patients from the Azores in Mainland Portugal. According to him, the document "considers that, for the first time, displaced patients from the Azores should have the same treatment as patients from the National Health Service."
 
In addition to these matters, the State Budget for 2019 corresponds to the Region's concerns and demands in the context of the Atlantic Observatory on Faial, the prison establishment on São Miguel Island and the development of the Economic Revitalisation Plan for Terceira Island (PREIT) regarding the issue of decontamination and the co-responsibility of expenses incurred to achieve the decontamination goal.
 
The document also mentioned the development of investments in the network of weather radars, the expansion of the Horta Airport, the promotion of the necessary actions aimed at replacing submarine cable interconnections and the allocation of revenue to the Regional Health Service in the context of the States' financial structure.
 
"In this term, we consider that the National Government, with the approval of the State Budget proposal, clearly demonstrates the attention and consideration towards Autonomous Region of the Azores,” reiterated Sérgio Ávila. The government official also noted the "correspondence of effective solidarity and the allocation of financial resources that belong to the Region on its own right as well as the sharing of necessary resources and investments, as defined by the Region for its development."