THE GOVERNMENT passed the new Regional Finance Law last week.
The law changed the way in which Madeira, Porto Santo, the Azores and mainland regions are financed from central government.
Now, regions receive monies from central government taxes according to the strength of their regional gross domestic product (GDP).
Other factors, such as unemployment or development needs are not taken into account.
Madeira will receive 34 million euros less in 2007 than this year.
The decision to cut Madeira’s allowance was met with strong condemnation from the island’s governor Alberto João Jardim.
Before the vote was cast the PSD Parliamentary Deputy for Madeira, Guilherme Silva said that the law was “full of unconstitutional details in some of the articles.”
The alleged unconstitutional nature of some articles led the PSD to say they would try and block the passage of the law if the proposal was not altered during the consultation phase.
