Parliament approved 163 changes to the Budget for 2026, of which 122 were from the opposition, with the PS leading the way and highlighting the exemption from tolls and freezing of tuition fees, with those with the greatest budgetary impact being left out.
Among the main proposals for changes to the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026) validated in these four days of voting in the specialty are the exemptions from some tolls, the freezing of tuition fees in higher education, increases in the supplement for former combatants, patrol or patrol supplements for the GNR and PSP, and the reduction of VAT on the sale of works of art.
The parties that support the Government were those that achieved the most victories, after 41 proposals from the PSD and CDS-PP were approved – in many cases to correct errors in the original document -, while the opposition managed to validate, in total, 122 initiatives in the specialty phase.
The PS was the opposition party with the most approved proposals, 31 in total, followed by the PCP, with 22 validated measures, Chega with 20 and the PAN with 19.
Livre managed to approve 17 initiatives, BE eight, the Liberal Initiative three and the JPP, in its debut in the budget process, approved two, albeit only partially.
The budgetary impact of the approved proposals has not yet been assumed by the Government. However, accounts from the PS parliamentary group to which Lusa had access allow us to assess the cost of some more emblematic initiatives.
The socialist bench estimates that the toll exemptions will have an impact of around 35 million euros, of which 15 million relate to the A6 and A2, 10 million relate to the A41 CREP and A8/A19 and 10 million relate to the A15 portico in Aveiro.
The PS parliamentary group also projects an impact of 15.5 million euros for updating the supplement and special pension supplement for former combatants in 2026 and 7.5 million for updating the PSP and GNR patrol supplement in 2026.
Discover some of the main measures approved here:
+++ PSD/CDS-PP +++
The parties that support the Government presented few proposals for changes, which were almost all approved, as is the case with the initiative for the Government to move forward with procedures to award new public-private partnerships (PPP) in the National Health Service (SNS), as well as the reduction of VAT applicable to the sale of game meat from 23% to 6%.
On the other hand, there was a proposal that they were unable to approve, to index the increase in tuition fees to inflation. In return, the opposition gave the ‘green light’ to a PS proposal to freeze this value.
+++ Enough +++
From Chega, two dozen proposals were approved, namely the increase in funding for the Constitutional Court by 1.6 million euros, requested by the institution in a hearing in parliament, as well as a review of the rules for issuing residence certificates for foreign citizens, limiting the number of certificates per house.
Also noteworthy are initiatives to reduce VAT on transactions involving works of art from 23% to 6%, identical to a PS proposal, as well as the creation of a mental health check when the SNS is unable to meet maximum response times in psychiatry or psychology.
+++ PS +++
The PS achieved 31 victories in this voting marathon, with emphasis on the exemption from tolls on the entire A25 on the Costa da Prata and Litoral and Alta borders, and on two sections of the A6 and A2, in Alentejo, as well as the end of paying tolls for heavy vehicles on the Circular Regional Exterior do Porto (A41) and on part of the A19 and A8, in the Leiria region.
The proposals were voted against by the PSD and CDS-PP, after the Government warned of the cost of these measures, with the Technical Budget Support Unit estimating that the approval of the exemptions in A6 and A2 implies, for 2026, a loss of 17.9 million euros if the change only starts in April or 23.8 million euros if it starts in January.
The PS also saw the approval of a proposal for the value of tuition fees to remain frozen in the 2026/2027 academic year, remaining at 697 euros, after a vote change from Chega.
Among the initiatives, there is also a support program for Portuguese doctors residing abroad who wish to return to Portugal to work in the SNS, with tax and financial incentives in addition to immediate access to the Return Program, and a proposal that determines that the maximum period for the central administration to pay municipalities for delegated powers will be 60 days next year.
+++ IL +++
From the Liberal Initiative, only three proposals were approved, namely to support sports associations for people with disabilities, one to exempt cars adapted by institutions from VAT and another that guarantees exemption from Vehicle Tax for cars adapted by non-profit sports associations and federations.
+++ Book +++
Livre managed to approve 17 measures, one of which was the adoption of a new cycle of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy for the three-year period 2025-2028 through an action plan that ensures its monitoring.
It is also planned to implement the ratio of one psychologist per 500 students in public schools, as well as the definitive model of Support for Independent Living in Portugal and a national strategy to combat poverty in the 2027-2030 cycle. Also approved was an initiative for the Government to resume negotiations with Spain to reactivate Portugal-Spain international night trains.
+++ PCP +++
The communist bench saw 22 initiatives approved, including several for the Government to implement infrastructure in various parts of the country, such as the modernization of the Western railway line or the duplication of the IP3 between Coimbra and Santa Comba Dão.
Another communist initiative that received the ‘green light’ pressures the Government to launch the Third Tagus Crossing, moving forward in 2026 with “the necessary measures to complete” the road-rail connection between Barreiro and Lisbon.
+++ BE +++
From BE, eight proposals received validation, including one that determines that the Government will have to present a National Strategy for Rights in Menopause in the first half of next year.
Another approved blocist proposal guarantees the creation, within a period of six months, of a multi-annual public investment plan in the autonomous regions, specifying the value of each investment and the timing of its execution, which allows “verifying Government compliance” in relation to investment in the islands.
+++ PAN +++
The PAN managed to approve 19 measures, namely a proposal that binds parish councils to approve and implement, in 2026, “multi-annual plans to promote the well-being of companion animals, in conjunction with municipal services and zoophilic associations with local intervention”.
+++ JPP +++
The JPP, which is making its debut in the budget process but whose deputy did not participate in the votes on the specialty because he did not have a seat on this committee, only saw two proposals partially approved, on ‘bodycams’ and video surveillance in police facilities and judicial buildings in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.