First Council of Ministers at the new Government headquarters

The last Council of Ministers of António Costa’s third government was held on Monday 25 March at the Government’s new headquarters in the Caixa Geral de Depósitos building in Lisbon. In a meeting presided over by the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa the new National Strategy for the Inclusion of the Homeless 2025-2030 was approved, a status report on the RRF implementation stage was conducted, and the revision of the private sector higher educaiton scientific researchers and teaching staff career was discussed, as well as new model for cultural patronage and the Reform of the Agricultural Property. 

Owing to its circumstances, the Prime Minister felt that this was a "very special" council, seeing that "under the constitution" this Government "is limited in its powers" and cannot undertake any definitive commitment that would restrain the action of the Government being formed, whose Prime Minister has already been appointed.

Accordingly, except for the new National Strategy for the Inclusion of the Homeless for 2025-2030, which the Government could approve, the other bills were approved in the general meeting on Monday. "The homework is done. The new Government is free to appraise, reappraise and not start from scratch, rather from the point where we are now2, António Costa claimed.

Institutional solidarity and cooperation

The meeting was presided over by the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa – a tradition that began with the Prime Minister António Costa at the last council of Ministers of the last term of the former President of the Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva on 3 March 2016. 

"More than an act of courtesy, this is a way of emphasizing the importance of institutional cooperation, of institutional solidarity between the Government and other sovereign bodies, particularly the President of the Republic" said the Prime Minister after the meeting ended.

"If will be hard to find another period in our constitutional experience where the relations between the Government and the President of the Republic flowed so easily, in such a cooperative and solidary manner as what happened in the essential part of these eight years", António Costa went on to say.

The President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa further acknowledged that the institutional solidarity has worked over the last eight year, with three different Governments. "At crucial times, institutional solidarity became national solidarity. And that is highly positive. The relationship between the Head of State and the Head of Government should be like this as much as possible, even if they have different starting points and ways of thinking and differences as to concrete modes of action in day-to-day", he said.