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Unity in Diversity:

The European motto is “Unity in diversity”. It was first established through an unofficial process in 2000. It was selected from entries proposed by school pupils, and then accepted by the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine. The motto is soon likely to be replaced by the slightly modified "United in diversity", which has been written into the draft Constitution for Europe and now appears on official EU websites.
The phrase “Unity in Diversity” unites 25 different countries which all have common policies yet all 25 have different cultures.
Presently there are 25 members in the EU which consist of: the founders of the EU (1952) which are France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg. Then in 1973 another 3 countries joined: the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark. In 1981 only 1 country joined the EU which was Greece. In 1980 Spain and Portugal joined in. Till 1980 they where only 12 members, but in 1993 Finland, Austria and Sweden joined also. The last update was done in 2004, where 10 members joined altogether which they where Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Czech Republic.

Country Profile of Portugal:

Portugal: The official name is ‘Portuguese Republic’, and the main language is Portuguese, a Romance language which has been enriched by Arabic and other tongues. The capital city is Lisbon. The total area of Portugal is approximately 92.072 km2, and the population is about 10.8 million. The currency they use is the Euro. The Portuguese people are mainly Catholic but the Portuguese Constitution guarantees religious freedom, resulting in the presence of various different religions in Portugal: Christians (Protestants of various denominations and Orthodox), Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, etc. The mainland is home to Fàtima, one of the greatest Roman Catholic sanctuaries of the world.
Portugal and the EU: Portugal became part of the European Community in 1st January 1986 together with Spain, and was among the first 11 countries to adopt the euro in 1999. By joining the European Community Spain and Portugal brought their membership to 12 countries.
Pestle Analysis: A popular method of examining the many different external factors affecting a country is the Pestle Analysis. This is a technique that helps you to understand the external environment. The acronym PESTLE stands for the following: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental.

Political:
“The current and potential influences from political pressures”

Democracy: In Portugal the Assembly of the Republic is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens. It is composed of 230 Deputies.
Any Portuguese citizen over 18 years of age may be a Deputy. Electoral law accepts certain professional positions such as judges, military personnel in service, diplomats and so on.
Deputies are elected from lists presented by parties or party coalitions in each electoral constituency. Votes are converted to seats through proportional representation using Hondt’s highest average method.
Deputies represent the whole country and not just the constituencies by which they were elected. Each parliamentary year is called a Legislative Session and begins on 15 September. The term of Deputies only finishes at the first meeting of the Assembly following new elections.
Welfare State: The Portuguese welfare system is composed of several types of institutions that insure workers against sickness, disability, and old age and provide for the payment of pensions and family allowances.

Economical:
“The local, national and world economy impact”

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): In 2005, the Portuguese GDP was about 79,600 million ECU, which is a low value when compared with other EU countries (about 8100 ECU/inhabitants).
Sector: (Taking in example Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal)
• Primary (Agriculture/Fishing): 9.9 thousand people that is 0.8% of the employed population. The sector is characterised by subsistence agriculture and some large production units dedicated to the cultivation of cereals, particularly fodder, animal breeding, horticultural products, olive groves and floriculture.
• Secondary (Manufacturing): 286.2 thousand people that is 22.1% of the employed population. This industry is based on manufacturing, which includes the most stable and comprehensive sectors in the region: transport material and equipment industries, agro-food industries, forestry exploitation, manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products, hygiene and cleaning products and the final conversion and packaging of pharmaceutical products, industries of printing, editing and advertising products, manufacturing of plastic materials and packaging. As well as a series of production centres that enable the region to maintain its leading position in national terms, such as: the steel industry, oils and soaps; manufacture of synthetic fibres and resins; paints and varnishes; mechanical and electronic components, namely for telecommunications; mineral chemicals, manufacture of metal packaging, and refrigeration and ventilation equipment.
• Tertiary (Services): 997.7 thousand people that is 77.1% of the employed population. It is in the services sector that this region is more specialised in national terms, some of these are: Public Administration Departments and education. Financial departments, services provided to companies, including engineering and computer services, advertising, etc. Higher education; private health services. Telecommunications and audiovisuals; air, land and sea transports. Commercial services, hotels and restaurants, including the rapid growth of large-scale distribution.
Future Development: Portugal future developments will greatly benefit from technological advancements and contributions from related projects. The development of new tools that will enhance spatial analysis capabilities is also being investigated, and will depend on user reactions to the first prototypes.

Social:
“The ways in which changes in society affect the country”

Family and Relations: The entire Portuguese local and national system was based on the extended family and patronage ties, which were often as important as formal institutions.
Education: As pointed out by an OECD report the education level in Portugal is still today quite low, with a resulting low level of qualification. In 2001 only 10,6 % of the population held an university degree.
Religion: Portugal is profoundly Roman Catholic. According to common saying, "to be Portuguese is to be Catholic," and approximately 97 percent of the population considered itself Roman Catholic – the highest percentage in Western Europe. Only about one-third of the population attended mass and took the sacraments regularly, but nearly all Portuguese wished to be baptized and married in the church and to receive its last rites.
The most famous of Portuguese religious events was the supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary to three children in 1917 in the village of Fátima in the province of Santarém. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have visited the shrine at Fátima in the belief that the pilgrimage could bring about healing.
Technological:
“The effect of new and emerging technology”
Ref. Slide: 7
Communication: Portugal is the nation within the European Union that registered the biggest increase of newspaper circulation (12.5 %) continuing, however, to hold last place in what concerns the buying of newspapers (73,5 people per thousand, in accordance with 1999 figures).
The weekly general information press is clearly dominated by the Expresso (136,845), followed by a news magazine Visão (100,907). Curiously enough, the Expresso is the only newspaperkeeping the broadsheet format. The largest number of printed copies in the Portuguese press belongs to feminine, popular and TV magazines the best seller being by Maria (314,362), but with others likewise above 100,000 copies, such as Telenovelas, Nova Gente, Caras and TV Guide. Specialised magazines are the most dynamic sector, with dozens of titles that range from economy, automobiles, computer technologies, travel, etc.; however, this sector is the least stable with the frequent creation and shutting down of publications.
Information Technology (I.T.): Personal computer (PC) ownership is still not widespread in Portugal. In 2003, according to the statistical office, just 38.3% of households owned a PC, and only 21.7% of households had an Internet connection. For businesses, the figures are higher, with 82% of companies using computers, and 70% of companies having access to the Internet in 2003. Many companies, however, do not have a website, and many of those that do, use it mainly to give information about their services or products rather than to offer interactive services such as allowing customers to buy products online. In total, Internet market penetration is still well below that of other European countries, at 35% in 2003, although there has been a substantial increase since 1998, when the figure was just 5%.
Manufacturing / Industrial: Despite some progress in recent years, Portugal has been relatively unsuccessful in attracting FDI into the high-tech sector, having focused on developing its manufacturing base, notably in the automotive industry. Although present in the country, multinationals tend to operate on the commercial side of the market, largely as distributors and wholesalers, providing the interface with manufacturers outside Portugal.

Legal:
“The effect of national and world legislation”

Constitution: The first Portuguese Constitution was drafted in 1822. Several revolutions led to the constitutions of 1826, 1838, 1911, 1933 and 1976.
The current Portuguese Constitution dates from 1976, replacing the previous constitution of 1933 which defined Portugal as a corporative, single party and multi-continental country. The new constitution was created in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution of 1974, and radically changed the doctrine and the rules of the Portuguese Republic. The most important changes were:
• The set-up of a parliamentary, multiparty and constitutional democracy,
• The redefinition of the Portuguese territories to exclude the former colonies,
• The creation of a groundwork for a socialist economy.
The last was substantially amended in the following years, with little (if anything) remaining of the provisions relating to Socialism.
Constitution of Europe: The development of the European project, the simplification of the decision-making procedure, the underlining of the principle of subsidiarity, the reinforcement of the Community Method and of the role of the national parliaments in the Community’s legislative process, amongst other things are good options and consequently it will support the “yes campaign” in the national referendum on this matter.


Environment:
“The local, national and world environment issues”

Natural Environment: Some of the natural resources are fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower.
Working Environment: The weekly working time is 40 hours for the majority of workers. However, more than one in five works over 40 hours per week. Long working hours are particularly evident in the hotel and restaurant sector, where 55.5% of workers reported a weekly working time of 41 hours or more, and 33% work 50 hours or more.
Approximately 19.4% of the workers suffered accidents at work, and 8.4% suffered accidents on journeys related to work, at least once during their professional life. Both types of accidents were mainly provoked by lack of attention, inadequate safety precautions, and/or technical failure.
Living Environment: The Lisbon Strategy, re-launched in 2005 as the Strategy for Growth and Jobs, is based on a partnership between Community and Member States. It sets out a series of ambitious reforms with the general objective of stimulating growth and jobs and sustaining the European social model. The Commission’s first progress report, analyses Member States’ reform programmes and progress at Community level. It also sets out ambitious new actions and urges Member States to press ahead with the implementation of their programmes. Doing so will lead to an increase in competitiveness and greater job creation resulting in higher standards of living for EU citizens.


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