Conselho de Ministros
Published 4 November 2026, 03:07
Conselho de Ministros (Council of Ministers)
The government in full session: the prime minister, deputy prime ministers if there are any, and the ministers (Article 184 of the Constitution). Secretaries of state can be invited to meetings but are not members. The Council of Ministers approves decree-laws, bills for parliament, plans and anything that changes state revenue and spending (Article 200).
Where you come across it. News along the lines of “the government has approved”: this almost always means a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Approval by the Council of Ministers does not mean the rule is in force: the decree-law then goes to the President for promulgation (the President has 40 days) and is published in the Diário da República, and deadlines run only from then. Weeks, sometimes months, pass between the meeting and the date it actually takes effect.
Official website: portugal.gov.pt