The Portugal Parliament delegation returned from Strasbourg sharply divided over former President Aníbal Cavaco Silva's new European honour, exposing fault lines over how the country remembers its tumultuous economic integration into the European Union. During the ceremony where Cavaco Silva received the newly created European Order of Merit, left-wing Portuguese Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) accused him of dismantling national industry, while centre-right counterparts hailed him as the architect of Portugal's modernization.
Why This Matters
• Historical Recognition: Portugal now has its first honoree in the European Order of Merit, established May 2025 to recognize exceptional contributions to European unity and democratic values.
• Domestic Political Divide: The award reignites debates about privatization policies from 1985–1995, when Portugal shed state ownership in banking, insurance, and manufacturing.
• EU's Signal: By awarding Cavaco Silva alongside Angela Merkel and Lech Wałęsa, Brussels endorses a vision of integration through liberalization—one not universally accepted in Portugal.
The Ceremony and Its Symbolism
Thirteen of the 20 inaugural laureates gathered in the European Parliament hemicycle in Strasbourg to receive medals, ribbons, and certificates signed by Parliament President Roberta Metsola. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen personally handed Cavaco Silva his insignia, while former Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso—a member of the selection committee—read aloud the justification for the award.
The citation praised Cavaco Silva for leading Portugal's 1986 accession to the European Economic Community, shepherding negotiations for the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty, and the Treaty of Lisbon. It highlighted his role during Portugal's first rotating EU presidency in 1992, which adopted the motto "Toward the European Union."
In his brief acceptance speech, the 86-year-old former president struck a defensive tone, arguing that "in a time of severe global instability and armed conflicts, the EU is an asset of the greatest importance." He invoked Jacques Delors, the late Commission president, who once remarked that Portugal participated in European integration "as if it had been one of its founders." Cavaco Silva concluded by urging newer generations to remember that the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 and remains a bearer of peace, freedom, and democracy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merkel, and Wałęsa received the highest "Distinguished Member" tier, while Cavaco Silva was named an "Honorable Member" alongside nine others, including Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and former Irish President Mary Robinson.
Dueling Narratives Among Portuguese Lawmakers
The honor exposed a rare public rift among Portugal's Brussels delegation. Social Democratic Party (PSD), Christian Democratic Party (CDS-PP), Liberal Initiative, and Socialist Party (PS) MEPs endorsed the recognition, while Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) condemned it.
PSD deputy Paulo Cunha called the award "confirmation of the singularity of his trajectory," noting Cavaco Silva governed for nearly 20 years—10 as prime minister and another decade as president. "He was associated with Portugal's EU accession and led the country during its first rotating presidency. His connection to the European continent is historic," Cunha told reporters.
PS representative Francisco Assis said his delegation views the distinction "with full respect," emphasizing Cavaco Silva's consistent pro-European stance across both his terms as premier and head of state. "In a pluralist democracy, we naturally have divergences, but on European questions, a broad consensus has prevailed in Portuguese society," Assis remarked.
CDS-PP's Ana Miguel Pedro highlighted the modernization of infrastructure and the stability Cavaco Silva's governments provided, while Liberal Initiative's João Cotrim Figueiredo pointed to average annual GDP growth exceeding 4% between 1985 and 1995—the fastest convergence with European income levels Portugal has ever achieved. "When you are courageous and implement reforms, you produce growth. That's a lesson we could apply now," Cotrim Figueiredo said.
The Left's Counter-Memory
Left Bloc deputy Catarina Martins dismissed the European accolades as largely meaningless, arguing Cavaco Silva's governments "distributed checks to dismantle agriculture, fisheries, and industry." She claimed no other administration spent so much money to eliminate productive capacity, leaving Portugal an economy dominated by services, tourism, and consequently low wages.
PCP's João Oliveira was equally blunt: "Where the EU sees reasons for a medal, we see a large part of the country's problems bearing Cavaco Silva's stamp." He recalled Cavaco Silva's tenure as president during the 2011–2014 troika bailout, accusing him of propping up a government that had lost legitimacy and enabling "all the destruction that troika government caused." Oliveira also cited the former premier's decade in office as marked by mass privatizations and deindustrialization.
The far-right Chega party declined to comment.
What This Means for Residents
For people living in Portugal, the award crystallizes a longstanding debate about the country's EU trajectory. Cavaco Silva's economic liberalization program—enabled by the 1989 constitutional revision that removed socialist-era prohibitions on privatizing nationalized firms—reshaped everyday life. State ownership in banking fell from 90% to one-third by the mid-1980s, and breweries like Unicer and Central were sold off. By the time António Guterres succeeded Cavaco Silva, the state enterprise sector had shrunk to 5% of GDP and 2% of total employment.
These shifts delivered rapid infrastructure upgrades—highways, telecommunications, and port facilities—funded by EU structural funds. Yet critics note that agricultural and fishing employment halved between 1986 and 2008, and iconic industrial plants like the Marinha Grande glassworks shuttered in 1992 after more than two centuries. The economy's tilt toward services and tourism has contributed to persistent wage stagnation, a complaint echoed by labor unions and left-wing parties.
Most economists agree that Portugal's sharp deindustrialization accelerated after 2005, not during Cavaco Silva's premiership. Nonetheless, his governments laid the groundwork by opening markets to European competition and redirecting subsidies away from declining sectors. The European Order of Merit, in effect, endorses that model—raising questions about whether Brussels fully grasps the human cost of structural adjustment in peripheral member states.
Metsola's Praise and Future Portuguese Laureates
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told Portugal's Lusa news agency that Cavaco Silva "built Europe instead of merely believing in it." She singled out his "essential contribution at key moments of European integration," including Maastricht and Lisbon treaty negotiations. "Collective determination is truly essential to making Europe stronger and more cohesive," she said, quoting a 2007 speech Cavaco Silva delivered in the same chamber.
Asked whether more Portuguese figures might receive the honor in coming years, Metsola replied: "Portugal has a remarkable tradition of leaders who shaped Europe. I would not be surprised if more Portuguese are recognized in the future." The Order permits up to 20 recipients annually.
Broader European Context
The European Order of Merit was established to mark the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the May 1950 speech that launched the European Coal and Steel Community, precursor to today's EU. By bestowing the inaugural honors on figures like Merkel—who managed the eurozone debt crisis and the 2015 migrant wave—and Wałęsa—whose Solidarity trade union toppled communism in Poland—the Parliament is signaling continuity between Cold War democratization, monetary union, and current geopolitical threats.
Cavaco Silva's inclusion underscores a narrative in which Portugal's post-dictatorship pivot westward, economic liberalization, and fiscal discipline during the troika years form a coherent success story. Yet the domestic backlash from Left Bloc and Communist MEPs demonstrates that narrative remains contested at home, particularly among constituencies that bore the brunt of factory closures and wage compression.
The Unresolved Legacy
Cavaco Silva's speech in Strasbourg struck a somber note, emphasizing the EU's role "in a time of strong instability and global uncertainty, of armed conflicts and threats, when the voice of each country alone counts for little." That framing resonates with Portugal's strategic vulnerability—a small Atlantic nation dependent on EU funds, NATO security guarantees, and single-market access.
Whether the European Order of Merit elevates Cavaco Silva's domestic standing or deepens polarization around his record will depend on how younger Portuguese voters, who did not live through the heady growth years of 1985–1995, interpret the trade-offs his governments made. For now, the left's accusation that he traded industrial capacity for service-sector dependency remains the sharpest challenge to his European legacy—one the gleaming medal from Strasbourg cannot easily answer.
The ceremony concluded with each laureate signing a guest book and posing for photographs. Thirteen walked the red carpet; seven, including Zelensky, were absent. Cavaco Silva, flanked by Durão Barroso and Metsola, smiled for the cameras. Back in Lisbon, the debate over what he represents—visionary reformer or complicit demolition man—continues unabated.
