Gonçalo Matias defends reform of Portugal's Court of Auditors

Gonçalo Matias, the Deputy Minister and Minister of State Reform, is advocating for a new Law of Organization and Process for the Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas) in Portugal. During a parliamentary hearing, Matias expressed a desire for the law to be approved by a broad majority and defended the reduction of prior oversight for public contracts.

The proposed reform would exempt public contracts valued up to 10 million euros from mandatory prior approval by the Court of Auditors, provided the entities—such as municipalities and public services—possess accredited internal control and decision-making systems. Matias justified the 10 million euro threshold by citing its use in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and noting that prior approval is rejected in less than 1% of cases.

The minister argued that reducing the burden of prior oversight would allow the Court of Auditors to reallocate resources toward more effective concurrent and successive auditing. He also addressed criticisms regarding the potential impact on institutional maturity and the perceived attempt to diminish the Court's role, maintaining that the goal is a structural reform rather than an extinction of oversight.