Free circulation for 250 million people in Portuguese speaking countries? It could happen!

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Free circulation for 250 million people in Portuguese speaking countries? It could happen!

5:23 CAT | 03 Nov 2016

For European Union leaders, 2016 will certainly be remembered as a year of many, many headaches. In June, the British opted out of the EU by voting for Brexit. Now, a bold new proposal coming from Portugal could have severe impacts on European countries. During the 11th Conference of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, Portugal has pushed for a project of free circulation of people from such countries.

It would mean that people from Brazil or African countries like Angola and Mozambique could work and live in Portugal with the same rights Portuguese enjoy – and vice-versa, of course. Some EU leaders, however, are frightened by the idea of people from other continents having free access to one of its nations.

Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, have defended the bill. “The goal ambitious and challenging,” he recognizes. “Portugal is in the EU, where we have Schengen. It will not be easy to integrate Brazil, Portugal, and African countries, but it can be done.”

The proposal would not apply only to students, but to all citizens, and it would impact the pension system. One of the biggest challenges for expats across the world is retirement planning. Overall, one needs to contribute to the pension system in his or her country of origin and in the country in which they’ve worked. The free circulation deal would mean that time spent working overseas would count equally to calculate retirement pensions.

Another challenge regards academic equivalence. Right now, many college degrees – in areas ranging from engineering to medicine – are not accepted in different countries.

The Conference of Portuguese-Speaking Countries took place in Brazil, and member states have approved the proposal. According to the summit’s final document, all members should work on how to implement the free circulation zone. The strategies will be presented at the next conference, to be held in Cape Verde, in 2018.

The Community of Portuguese Language Countries is formed by Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.

Source: Plus55