The regional budgetary imbalance is structural, and we have been “kicking the can down the road” on this and other major issues the region has been accumulating, including public finances, SATA, and demographic decline, among others.
Our financial model is ill-suited and leading us toward systematic indebtedness that neither should nor can continue. Personally, I believe there are both external (especially national) and internal regional responsibilities that must be addressed and overcome.

At the national level, the country must recognize that a region composed of nine small islands scattered across the Atlantic — seven of which lack the scale to ensure a minimum level of economic sustainability and must maintain infrastructures of every kind in a periodically harsh climate — cannot be left to fend for itself without the Republic, as has been the case across the national territory, assuming the budgetary commitments under its responsibility. It is clear that, even with full use of its own resources, the region cannot survive without assistance from the Republic and the European Union, as has in fact been the case, though with a persistent budgetary imbalance that must be urgently corrected. After all, the Republic cannot remain detached from regional problems. But neither can the Region.

Our political-administrative model must be improved after 50 years of operation, both regarding the structures of the Regional Government and the Legislative Assembly, and those of local authorities, especially on the five islands with more than one municipal structure. To avoid further complicating the resolution of problems, it is best not to alter the current municipal model, which stems from historical imperatives and long-standing difficulties with inter-island mobility, but rather to promote fruitful collaboration through federations of municipalities on each island, entities that are already well-established.

The current model demands rationality, which would allow for significant savings in many of our infrastructures, particularly in education and health. To avoid sterile debates born of deeply rooted local rivalries, we must work toward a balanced distribution of essential infrastructure among municipalities to guarantee greater rationality, economy, effectiveness, and efficiency within the regional political-administrative model. The regional executive and legislative bodies must, following models such as the U.S. state model, adopt more austere solutions to reduce the costs of regional public administration.

It is not prudent to maintain a Regional Assembly and a Regional Government without a balanced model aligned with our regional revenues. Without listing additional problems to avoid complicating the discussion, it is essential to energize a small planning structure with components on each island and at the regional level, since the current regional office, DREPA, is now focused almost exclusively on attracting EU funds, neglecting true regional planning — indispensable to sustainable economic and social development.

Without increasing costs, we can harmonize future investments by holding periodic meetings of the executive bodies of municipalities on islands with more than one municipality. As for the accounting values of regional revenues and expenditures, they have been calculated for many decades; it would suffice for national, regional, and municipal leaders to sit down together and define competencies and responsibilities within their respective domains. Once that complex work is completed, the resulting figures can simply be summed up algebraically, setting a reasonable timeframe for periodic updates whenever necessary, as economic and social developments will inevitably require.

The purpose of this writing has been to simplify and summarize as much as possible the many issues that call for deep and demanding debate. Still, I could not fail to present a clear and sincere opinion given the gravity of the current moment.

Monteiro da Silva is a Professor of Economics.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant perspectives on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).