Portugal will invest 19.5 million euros in the creation of online consular services
“We are working at the `Consulate, which will allow our fellow citizens Parliaments in the communities to access many consular services through electronic applications`, explained João Gomes Cravinho, heard not in the context of the appreciation, in particular, of the State Budget proposal for 2023 (OE2023).
The head of Portuguese diplomacy highlighted that an “important ambition” for 2023 concerns the “continuation of the work to improve consular service”.
João Gomes Cravinho presented three lines of intervention, the first concerning the `online` availability of consular services.
“The services of the services that are currently obliged to move in the same way that nowadays the device, of the same need for displacement, must be physically displaced to the devices”, he underlined.
For this, there will be an investment in 2023 of 19.5 million euros through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), he said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that, however, not all citizens “around the world have easy access to digital services” and that “there are certain services that continue to require a physical presence in consulates”.
To reinforce the local consular capacity, João Gomes Cravinho announced two other lines of action, the second of which involves increasing the number of employees in this sector.
“We will end the year 2023 with 249 more staff than at the end of 2022, with most of this increase (namely 222 staff) for external peripheral services, in particular for consulates”, he shot.
The third line of action concerns the need to update salary scales for those who “in several countries are out of step with the local cost of living”.
João Gomes Crachás, who update is “esseinho” the appreciation of employees for the maintenance of employees and maintenance services, “considering new employees, services and remuneration cannot be the same from post to post to post”.
“In this correction logic will also implement a new exchange mechanism to make changes in other countries.
With this budget, personnel expenses, 1%, reinforcement also to be defined in an increased role is one of the supplementary countries on the salary scale, as explained by the regulator.
Also in Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed today an idea that the ministry he oversees has a reduction for the next year and that it has lost strength with the download of European European Affairs to the sphere of the Prime Minister.
“This budget guarantees our network of embassies, and the Ministry’s services in Lisbon, financial conditions for the execution of their mission, namely with an increase in allocation of 5.8 million euros, from 490.4 million to 496, 2 million euros”, said Minister João Gomes Cravinho in his speech.
This being the value of the analysis for total consolidated expenditure contained in the proposed State Budget (OE) for 2023, the PSD made a reading taking into account the appropriations, including a reduction of 26.1 million euros in European Funds, the which translates globally into a 4% reduction in the ministry budget for 2023 compared to 2022.
To this reading, made by deputy Tiago Moreira de Sá, Ricardo Sousa, also from the PSD, added that inflation must also be taken into account “and, with everything, the real drop is 12%”, calling into question the remuneration of employees and saying that the places are “not very appealing”.
João Gomes Cravinho countered by saying that he could have an opinion on a 2022 cut if “a superficial reading of the document is done” and insisted on a complete reading.