The article compares Portugal with the Nordic countries, arguing that Portuguese people frequently confuse the size of the State with its nature. According to the text, the Nordics have a large and liberal State, while Portugal has a medium-sized and corporate State. Denmark, for example, has no legal minimum wage, dismissal is done by simple letter, most civil servants have contracts equal to those in the private sector, and the retirement age has been indexed to life expectancy since 2006, set at 70 years for those born after 1970. Sweden abolished inheritance tax in 2004 and wealth tax in 2007, and since 1992 has financed any school chosen by parents, public or private.
In terms of public accounts, Portugal closed 2025 with a surplus of 0.7% of GDP and debt of 89.7%, while Denmark had a surplus of 2.9% and debt of only 27.9%. The article highlights that the Portuguese surplus came entirely from Social Security, that is, from contributions that will be paid as pensions in the future, while the Danes balance the books with rules such as a multi-year spending ceiling approved by law. Portugal spends 42.5% of GDP, less than any Nordic country, but 13% of GDP on pensions, compared to 7 to 9% in the Nordic countries. The Nordic State is described as a machine for producing quality services, while the Portuguese State is characterized as a machine for transferring money with a high commission along the way.
The article details the differences in the labor market and taxation. In Denmark, the flexicurity model facilitates dismissal but guarantees unemployment benefits of up to 90% of salary for two years, accompanied by mandatory training. In Portugal, the Constitution prohibits dismissal without just cause and the unemployment benefit is 65% of salary, creating a dual market between the protected and the precarious. In taxation, Danish VAT is a single rate of 25% with no exceptions, income tax starts on the first krone and more than half of tax revenue comes from income tax paid by almost everyone. In Portugal, about half of households do not pay income tax and the system has multiple rates and exceptions that benefit organized sectors.
In decentralization, two-thirds of Danish public spending is decided and executed by municipalities, compared to only 13% in Portugal. In education and health, money follows the person: Sweden has education vouchers since 1992 that fund public or private schools, and the Netherlands funds public and private schools equally since 1917, with two-thirds of students in privately managed schools. The article concludes that each of these proposals is described as neoliberal in Lisbon, while each of them is law in Nordic countries for decades, and that the lesson for Portugal is not in the level of taxes but in the institutional architecture, which can be built without additional costs.
