History

The CFP was set up in May 2011 at the end of the 11th legislative period, under the 5th amendment to the Budgetary Framework Law. In Portugal, the need to create such a body had been recognized for some time. An agreement was reached between the two main political parties in October 2010, even before the approval of the European guidelines on the subject.

At the time, the Government - headed by the Socialist Party - and the Social Democrat Party agreed to form a working committee to establish the statutes of the future council. This initiative was part of the political agreement that allowed Parliament to approve the Draft State Budget for 2011. The signatory parties committed the acceptance of the proposals made by the working committee, appointed in January 2011, headed by António Pinto Barbosa and including Teodora Cardoso and João Loureiro. The draft statutes were presented in April and the final version was approved by Parliament in October (Law no. 54/2011, from 19 October).

The members of the CFP’s highest body, the Senior Board, took office on 16 February 2012. The first document was published on 21 May of that year.

In its first year, the CFP produced four documents, followed by ten in 2013. From 2014 to 2016 there were 13 publications per year, with the number of documents published rising to 15 in 2017. In 2018, 17 reports were published amongst other documents. A list of all the publications is available at CFP’s Activity Reports.

In 2019, at the request of the CFP, the OECD conducted an analysis of the institution's impact to that date.

In this document, the OECD concluded that, in a relatively short period of time, the CFP has become a well-regarded independent institution providing high-quality analysis of public finances in Portugal. CFP reports are often discussed in Parliament and referred to during national fiscal debates. The institution has also played an important role in improving fiscal transparency and providing new information to facilitate fiscal oversight and a greater understanding of issues affecting Portugal’s long-term fiscal sustainability. 

Date of last update: 27/11/2023