Monte Horizonte

Two and a half decades after joining the European Union in 1986 Portugal is very different place. Portugal’s European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates spoke at a ceremony to mark the day at Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery, where Portugal signed the accession treaty 25 years ago. Socrates called for “a European response based on solidarity and cohesion between states and European peoples.” The Portuguese economy experienced a big jump when Portugal joined the European Union as well as the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999.  Portugal’s membership in the EU contributed to stable economic growth, largely through increased trade and an inflow of EU funds for infrastructure improvements.