SPA and the Ministry of Culture, meeting on the morning of the 20th, reached a convergence of views on the issues raised by the cooperative on the new Law on Collective Management Entities and agreed to continue the work in the now consensual terms.
With the clarification that has now been reached, based on a deep technical work developed by the teams of SPA and the Ministry, it is established that those who can participate (and vote) in the general assemblies are the cooperators and that these can only be represented by other cooperators.
It was also established that the funds allocated to the social and cultural support resulting from the compulsory deductions of the members are applied in accordance with the decision of the cooperative’s deliberative body.
In addition to these aspects, it was also reiterated the previously mentioned position on the nature of the one-stop shop that will be compulsory both electronically and non-presential, in terms to be agreed among all.
SPA, in addition to the internal work carried out by cooperative jurists, based its positions on legal opinions prepared by external consultants Drª. Patrícia Akester (University of Cambridge) and Dr. Duarte Abecassis (Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira & Associados).
It was also agreed between the delegation of SPA, coordinated by the Board member Drª. Paula Cunha and the Ministry of Culture, coordinated by Dr. Francisco Guerra, that the next step will be the publication of an appropriate legal instrument to clarify the matter in question.
It is recalled that hundreds of Portuguese authors and several international organizations have been demonstrating in a determined and unequivocal way the support to the positions defended by SPA, which greatly stimulates and strengthens the work of the cooperative.
The cooperative now awaits with natural expectation that this process, which has also been personally accompanied by the Minister of Culture following a promise made to the president of SPA, will be implemented in a short-term diploma and after the necessary formal steps, so that the cultural community can be justifiably settled in a matter which has been the subject of widespread concern.
Lisbon, December 21, 2017
