In 1993, the year the Portuguese natural gas project lifted up, Portugal had no backbone high pressure natural gas pipeline, storage and other infrastructures. From 1993 onwards, such infrastructures were built and natural gas became one of the most important sources of energy used in Portugal.
In the period between, 2000 and 2011, the natural gas demand increased 10% per year, and in 2015 the gas consumption, registered an increase of 16%.
Until 2006 the promotion of natural gas and the development of the system’s main infrastructures were handled by the Galp group companies, Transgás – Sociedade Portuguesa de Gás Natural, S.A. (“Transgás”) and GDP – Gás de Portugal, SGPS, S.A. (“GDP”), under concession agreements entered into with the Portuguese State.
The public service concession for the import, transmission and supply of natural gas through the high pressure pipeline, was granted to Transgás, and the public service concession for the distribution of natural gas through regional pipeline networks, was granted to six different companies, held by the GDP group.
However, the Decree-Law no. 30/2006 of 15 February 2006 (“Gas System Law”) transposed Directive 2003/55/EC, implementing common rules for the internal market.
The most important measures established by the Gas System Law were (i) the creation of a National Natural Gas Distribution Network (RNDGN), licensed or licensed to several operators, to guarantee non-discriminatory and transparent access to the network infrastructures of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and RNDGN terminals, (ii) the legal unbundling between the network and infrastructure operators of the National Natural Gas System (SNGN) and the marketers, and (iii) the creation the figure of the natural gas supplier and the last resort supplier.
The Gas System Law principles were specified by Decree-Law 140/2006, of 26 July 2006 (“Gas Regulatory Law”), with new rules for the exercise of transmission, operation of storage of the LNG facilities, and distribution and supply services.
As a result of these changes, the natural gas sector was unbundled, and is currently divided into several activities, each one with different operators. Thus, the sector is structured in (i) reception, (ii) storage and regasification, (iii) underground storage, (iv) transportation, (v) distribution, and (vi) commercialization.
This briefing intends to give an overview on the functioning and organization of the different activities of the Portuguese Natural Gas Sector and on the main players of the sector.
Following harsh economic years, Portugal has shown an unexpected surge in tourism and in the real estate market in 2016 which is now catching the attention of local and foreign investors.
Portugal’s moderate growth rate in 2016, the support of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy and the commitment of the government to bring the deficit to 2.3% have renewed investors’ interest in Portugal. Still there are challenges ahead. Portugal needs to reduce historically high levels of Government debt and unemployment.
After implementing a harsh economic program with little social unrest, Portugal has facilitated the creation of new businesses, reduced the time for obtaining administrative permits, improved its labour legislation and reduced its corporate tax to 21%. For international investors looking for a place to invest in Europe, Portugal offers several advantages, of which many investors are not aware. Portugal is an ideal location for nearshoring industrial and services facilities because of its access to Europe’s 500 million consumers’ market and to the Portuguese-speaking world, which spreads across five continents: Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Portugal has a proven track record of successful foreign investments across a wide range of sectors. Investors that are considering Portugal as a place to invest want to know the hard facts about the country and not the stereotypes associated with the country and its people. Autoeuropa, Volkswagen’s Portuguese auto-plant, is one of its most productive plants. Nokia Siemens Networks chose Portugal to install its new Global Networks Solutions Center. Microsoft, Colt, Ikea have also successfully invested in Portugal in recent years.
Portugal has one of the most favourable business environments in the world. The World Bank's "Doing Business 2017" Report ranks Portugal in the top 25 of the world’s – 12th in the EU – most attractive locations to do business.
The «WhyPortugal 2017» report aims to answer the main questions of international businesses, institutional investors, private equities and industry players that are considering Portugal as a location to invest in Europe. This report provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Portugal and reviews the main aspects to be considered by foreign investors considering Portugal as a place to invest as regards the setting up of a business, hiring employees, taxation and government incentives.
The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) promises to be the most significant global development in data protection laws across all European Union (“EU”) Member States since Directive 95/46/EC (“Data Protection Directive”), which was implemented in Portugal by Law 67/98, of 26 October 1998.
The GDPR will be directly applicable in all EU Member States from 25 May 2018. The new regulation will have a global scope, as businesses based outside the EU that offer goods or services to individuals in the EU may be required to comply with the GDPR.
The risk of fines up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover or €20 million is surely a strong incentive for companies to comply with the GDPR.
The new regulation is expected to be homogenously applied throughout the EU. Notwithstanding, Portuguese law will apply in cases it may impose more detailed conditions, such as those relating to the processing of sensitive data, particularly genetic data, biometric data or data concerning health. Portuguese law may also contain specific rules regarding the processing of employees' personal data, especially for the purposes of recruitment, performance and termination of the employment contract, which will apply together with the GDPR.
The combined application of the GDPR and the Portuguese law will be particularly relevant where companies collect and process data from Portuguese individuals and/or the Portuguese supervisory authority acts as lead authority due to the fact the main establishment or the single establishment of the controller or processor is located in Portugal.
Individuals, who are resident in Portugal, will have the right to lodge complaints with the Portuguese supervisory authority. For proceedings against a data controller or processor, the plaintiff will have the right to bring the action before the Portuguese courts if the data controller or processor’s business or the individuals’ residence is located in Portugal.
Although the core data protection rules remain broadly the same, there are important changes with impact on day-to-day business and for which companies should be aware of and prepare in advance.
As companies prepare for the entry into force of the GDPR, we propose a seven steps plan detailing the main aspects of the GDPR that companies need to take. This should be also used as an opportunity to improve the way the companies deal with personal data within their organization. The countdown to 2018 has started.
The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) promises to be the most significant global development in data protection laws across all European Union (“EU”) Member States since Directive 95/46/EC (“Data Protection Directive”), which was implemented in Portugal by Law 67/98, of 26 October 1998.
The GDPR will be directly applicable in all EU Member States from 25 May 2018. The new regulation will have a global scope, as businesses based outside the EU that offer goods or services to individuals in the EU may be required to comply with the GDPR.
The risk of fines up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover or €20 million is surely a strong incentive for companies to comply with the GDPR.
The new regulation is expected to be homogenously applied throughout the EU. Notwithstanding, Portuguese law will apply in cases it may impose more detailed conditions, such as those relating to the processing of sensitive data, particularly genetic data, biometric data or data concerning health. Portuguese law may also contain specific rules regarding the processing of employees' personal data, especially for the purposes of recruitment, performance and termination of the employment contract, which will apply together with the GDPR.
The combined application of the GDPR and the Portuguese law will be particularly relevant where companies collect and process data from Portuguese individuals and/or the Portuguese supervisory authority acts as lead authority due to the fact the main establishment or the single establishment of the controller or processor is located in Portugal.
Individuals, who are resident in Portugal, will have the right to lodge complaints with the Portuguese supervisory authority. For proceedings against a data controller or processor, the plaintiff will have the right to bring the action before the Portuguese courts if the data controller or processor’s business or the individuals’ residence is located in Portugal.
Although the core data protection rules remain broadly the same, there are important changes with impact on day-to-day business and for which companies should be aware of and prepare in advance.
As companies prepare for the entry into force of the GDPR, we propose a seven steps plan detailing the main aspects of the GDPR that companies need to take. This should be also used as an opportunity to improve the way the companies deal with personal data within their organization. The countdown to 2018 has started.
L’échange automatique de renseignements approuvé par le Conseil de l’OCDE dont l’application est prévue pour 2018, s’impose comme la nouvelle norme en matière de collaboration fiscale à l'échelon international.
Il s’agit, pour les pays ayant conclu un accord à cet effet, de s’échanger des renseignements sur les comptes financiers de personnes physiques et morales sur une base annuelle.
Il va permettre de collecter les premières données ce 1er janvier 2017 déjà.
Travelling to Portugal and you are not an EU Schengen State resident?
You will need a travelling visa to cross the Portuguese border, and a temporary residence permit, if you stay for more than 60 days. To live in Portugal you must have a permanent residency permit.
Find in this paper a quick guide to obtain these permits.
La vente en viager se présente comme une forme de vente d’un bien immobilier avec un potentiel de développement dans les années à venir, étant donné que les principaux sujets visés par cette figure sont les personnes âgées qui souhaitent vendre son logement à fin d’assurer un complément de revenu de retraite.
La vente d’un bien immobilier contre le paiement d’une rente viagère comprend, surtout, le transfert de la propriété pour un tiers qui se charge de payer une rente viagère au vendeur.
Le contrat repose sur un pari sur la longévité du vendeur car l'acheteur doit verser une rente au vendeur jusqu'à la date de son décès, ce que les parties ignorent à la date de la transaction. Par conséquent, ce contrat se caractérise par son aléa, comprenant, simultanément, une opportunité de profit et un risque de perte.
Avec cette présentation, nous voulons faire connaître la figure de la vente en viager, une forme de vente d’immeubles peu répandue au Portugal.
The Portuguese Government launched the Residence Permit for Investment Activity programme (ARI), in 2012. This program known as Golden Visa, is a quick solution for investors from outside the Schengen area to obtain a residence permit in Portugal.
This plan includes new rules on the awarding of residence permits for investment activity, known as “golden visa”, to citizens of non-European Union (EU) countries that wish to make a significant investment in Portugal and meet certain requirements.
The “golden visas” grant their holders the right to free circulation in Portugal and in the rest of Schengen area countries. In addition to general requirements applicable to residence permits, “golden visas” require their holders to undertake the obligation of investing in Portugal of certain minimum amounts for a minimum period.
In this paper, you will find an outline of the opportunities of living in Portugal and of the main aspects to be thought-out by everybody considering Portugal as a place to live.
2016 will be a defining year in the Portuguese telecommunications’ market. A series of events in the period 2013-2015 brought severe changes to the sector: the merger of ZON and Optimus resulting in NOS, the change of ownership of PT, and also of Onitelecom and Cabovisão.
Commercially, we witnessed an increased bet in multiple play, the entrance of Vodafone in the fixed markets and technology investment by all major operators in.
According to OECD statistics Portugal is today ranked in the top 20 countries in the world with more use of fibre optic technologies but service providers are still employing aggressive market strategies in obtaining new customers and are also increasing their bets in technology markets such as bid data, cloud storage and the internet of things.
This report provides the readers with a brief overview of the market and its four major market players as well as a review of the Portuguese telecommunications’ legal framework.
Angola is a leading trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa and has several agreements with the US, which have facilitated trade between both nations. A lot of Angola’s success up to recently is owed to US investment in the Angolan oil and energy sectors.
This African country is ranked as one of the hardest to do business in, as such, understandably, investment in its markets would have to be a well thought and pondered decision, taking into account the level of government intervention and potential corruption issues.
However, in spite of the difficult time Angola is going through as a result of the crude declining prices, significant business opportunities may lay ahead in “one of the fastest growing markets in Africa”.
In this report, we will analyze from an US invertors’ standpoint the basic legal issues and mechanics of investing in Angola as well as several reasons to consider investing in the Angolan power (hydroelectric), construction (railways, roads and housing) and agricultural sector (coffee production), just to mention some of the sectors where there is potential for investment in this Portuguese speaking country.