Strasbourg, France, Jan. 21, 2026 (Lusa) - European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque on Wednesday highlighted the "extraordinary progress" made by Portugal since it joined the European Union and called for the future to be planned with "great ambition and courage".
Speaking to journalists on the day of a session in the European Parliament commemorating 40 years since Portugal joined the then European Economic Community (EEC), Maria Luís Albuquerque stressed that the date is important for reflecting "on what the last 40 years have been like".
"The progress Portugal has made, the extraordinary progress our country has made, is very different today from what it was 40 years ago. Today we have a more prosperous, more competitive, more cohesive country, and we have better conditions to guarantee the Portuguese better social conditions and better jobs," she said.
The European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union also stated that Portugal remains "very committed to Europe" and argued that the country "is very important for Europe", just as "Europe is also very important for Portugal".
"We also remember that this European Union (EU) project is one that essentially began as a project for peace and prosperity and today, more than ever, it is important that we continue to reflect these values," she said.
Maria Luís Albuquerque stressed that, over the last four decades, "a lot has happened, many courageous political decisions have been taken, not always consensual, often difficult", which have enabled the EU to create an internal market and a single currency.
"These decisive steps marked significant developments for Europe and demonstrated, time and again, that when we face major challenges, we move forward together," she said.
The Commissioner noted, however, that "rather than just marking the 40 years that have passed," today is also a time to "look to the future with hope and ambition" and think about how the European project can "continue to move forward" to defend our "common heritage", values, "way of life" and social model, and to "overcome the challenges" that exist today and that "will surely arise in the future".
"Europe remains a project for the future, it is an extraordinary voluntary project by a group of countries to manage their lives and challenges together, while preserving their national identities," she said.
For Maria Luís Albuquerque, proof of the success of the European project can be seen in the fact that there are "several European countries that want to join the EU and that continue to see the Union as a place of security, trust and hope for the future".
"Therefore, these 40 years in which we reflect on the past should also be a time to plan for the future, and we plan for that future with ambition, a lot of ambition and courage, because times are not very easy today and the future will certainly bring us other challenges," she said.
The country's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will speak this Wednesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, at a session commemorating the 40th anniversary of Portugal's accession to the then European Economic Community (EEC).
The session is scheduled to begin at 12:00 (11:00 Lisbon time) and will also feature a speech by the King of Spain, Felipe VI, as Spain also the Treaty of Accession together with Portugal, becoming full members on 1 January 1986.
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