Since its creation on May 1, 2021, ANPL has maintained regular contact with the government, the Assembly of the Republic, and political parties. After the Social Democratic Party (PSD), a delegation from the National Association of Liberal Professionals (ANPL) has now met with the Socialist Party (PS), with plans to proceed with other political forces represented in the Assembly of the Republic and the European Parliament asap.
On February 14, a delegation from ANPL was received at the headquarters of the Socialist Party (PS) in Lisbon, located in Largo do Rato. Present on behalf of the PS were its Secretary-General, João Torres, and Vera Braz, member of Parliament and of the PS Permanent Committee
Representing ANPL were its President, Orlando Monteiro da Silva, dental physician, Fernando Rodrigues Pereira, Vice-President and communications consultant, and João Ascenso, lawyer, representing the General Assembly.
The highly productive meeting lasted about one and a half hour, providing an opportunity to present some of the reasons for ANPL’s existence, as well as the main identified critical areas that guide their actions, related to the status of liberal professionals and independent workers in Portugal and at the European context. Taxation, social protection and retirement systems, as well as the framework for the nearly one million professionals in Portugal who are self-employed, were at the heart of the joint analysis.
The recently approved Agenda for Decent Work and the need to include the broad sector of liberal professions in future legislative initiatives received particular attention from the PS’s top officials, with a commitment to scheduling these topics for internal debate and engagement with the Assembly of the Republic by the governing party, which holds the majority.
New forms of work, digital nomadism, remote work, mobility in the European and third-country contexts, and above all, the need to give voice to liberal professionals were mutually recognized as essential and beneficial for the country’s competitiveness, the qualification of services available to the market, as well as for the professional and social valorization of liberal professionals.
The RETA, Special Regime of Autonomous Taxation in Spain, was mentioned as an example that, due to its proximity to our country, would merit study. It should be noted that in Portugal, the law on union representation does not allow for the existence of unions of liberal professionals, unlike in several European countries.
Various examples of traditional self-regulated and regulated professions, such as oral hygienists, podiatrists, dental prosthetists, as well as those not formally regulated, such as translators, instructors, data analysts, or many other so-called “new professions,” were mentioned. The provision of services via electronic platforms through technological and computer developments resulting from AI was also discussed.
The institutional contacts at the European level were also one of the topics presented to the PS. For this purpose, the partnership resulting from ANPL’s recent accession to the European Council of Liberal Professions (CEPLIS) is crucial, as the only organization that represents the interests of liberal professionals at the European level.
ANPL thanks the PS for their availability and commitment to jointly addressing issues affecting one million professionals in Portugal.
Associação Nacional dos Profissionais Liberais 