Algés, Portugal, March 11, 2026 (Lusa) - The minister of cabinet affairs said on Tuesday that a stronger Lusa is clearly needed and said that the government currently has very limited powers, complying with "all the requirements" of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
António Leitão Amaro was speaking at a dinner debate on "Public Policies for the Media", organised by the Portuguese Media Confederation (CPMCS).
"We clearly need a much stronger, less government-controlled Lusa," said the minister in his opening speech.
"I hear a lot of discussion about our Lusa statutes," but "six months ago, six years ago and eighteen years ago, any government could do as it pleased under the Lusa statutes, appointing the administration as it wished and dismissing it whenever it wanted".
Now, that "ended four months ago", the minister stressed.
"Today, we no longer have a single government administration, but a plural one, with reinforced capital at the top" and the "government with very limited powers in relation to, for example, dismissal", complying with "all the requirements of the European Media Freedom Act" [Media Freedom Regulation].
The minister also pointed out that an Advisory Council has been created, whose composition ensures the representation of most of the news agency's stakeholders.
The minister also recalled that Lusa's capital had been reinforced.
"And now we are working with Lusa to review its public service contract, because Lusa can and should do more, and the state will finance Lusa even more, to reduce its prices to customers" and reinforce it in Brussels. It will also expand the network in the Portuguese-speaking world and in the national territory.
"All this at a lower price for all its customers," a way of strengthening sustainability, he said.
Leitão Amaro stressed that "Lusa is the supplier par excellence for everyone".
The minister considered that Lusa is needed to bring the local voice to the capital, i.e. greater territorial cohesion.
Lusa "has a fundamental role to play in combating the news desert. Therefore, strengthening Lusa means strengthening the conditions for the sustainability of information activity," he stressed. "And what we are seeing today, with measures already taken and others underway, is probably the greatest strengthening of Lusa's capacity that has been achieved in Portugal since its foundation," he said.
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