Madeiran local authorities are calling for transparent and predictable rules for accessing European funds, aiming to prevent "party-political preferences" or personal relationships from influencing allocations. Santa Cruz Mayor Élia Ascensão emphasized the importance of greater municipal participation in setting priorities and funding calls.
Ascensão suggested that each municipality should know its potential funding amount in advance, proposing a fixed sum per municipality to facilitate short and medium-term investment planning. This measure, she believes, would reduce opportunities for "potential preferences, allegedly party-political or due to friendships."
Other mayors at the Santa Cruz debate, including Jorge Carvalho and Olavo Câmara, highlighted budgetary challenges and the need to consolidate projects for economies of scale, particularly for smaller municipalities.
