Government accepts civil society proposals on cultural patronage

In a statement, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports also said that it has already consulted with supervised entities and patrons and that it is open to suggestions until September 20, with the proposal for a new regime expected to be presented by the end of the year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the current regime "has been insufficiently mobilizing, overly complex, and not always clear in its criteria and procedures," which is why the review aims to ensure "greater transparency, predictability, sustainability, and diversification of funding sources."

"We want clearer and more accessible cultural patronage," said the minister, adding that "the new framework must respect the principles of simplicity, equity and objectivity."

In the statement, Minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes also highlighted the need to recognize "the role of all cultural agents", ensure that tax support reflects "the social impact generated" and prevent "decisions from being subjective or overly centralized".

To date, the minister has met with entities under the ministry's supervision and with around two dozen private patrons, and is now continuing the process of consulting cultural agents, citizens, companies and institutions.

"In defining public policies, contributions from civil society are essential and, to that extent, always welcome," he said.

Interested parties can submit proposals on the participa.gov.pt portal, at https://participa.gov.pt/base/initiatives/rewU6rw95f/description until September 20th.

According to the Program of the XXV Constitutional Government submitted to the Assembly of the Republic in June, in addition to budgetary reinforcements, the Executive indicated, in the document, that it was committed to creating "an attractive legal regime for cultural patronage".

In October last year, the Government approved 25 measures for the Culture sector in the Council of Ministers, including a proposed Cultural Patronage Law, to be submitted to Parliament.

Before that, in September, the bill for cultural patronage, presented in July by the PS, had been rejected in parliament, with votes against from the PSD, CDS, Chega and PCP, abstention from the BE and votes in favor from the remaining parties.

A few days earlier, the PSD had revealed that the Government had "in preparation" a proposal for a law on cultural patronage, which it defined as more comprehensive than the model presented by the PS.

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