Europe's three vertices: towards a new strategic (im)balance 51 economies. At the same time, the territorial concentration of industrial investment may divert capital and innovation to States that already have mature production ecosystems, limiting the capacity of countries such as Portugal to participate fully in new strategic value chains. The shift of agenda-setting power to the economic centre of the Union, combined with more centralised financial instruments andasymmetric State aid, inevitably favours the most robust economies. Portugal will therefore have to initiate a strategic reflection on how to boost its economy in a context of increasing selectivity of the European funds. In this regard, it is essential to strengthen There is also an internal risk, which is the erosion of territorial and rural cohesion. Most of Portugal's territory depends, directly or indirectly, on the CAP, rural development and cohesion policies, which, over decades, have compensated for structural inequalities and counteracted human desertification. The traditional narrative that Portugal has natural strategic advantages, such as its central Atlantic location, maritime economy, ports, logistics, renewable energies, tourism, forests and bioresources, may still be valid, but Europe needs to preserve its balance model, which includes regions and territories. European funding, particularly after a cycle that included, in addition to the MFF, substantial funds from the RRP. This implies a new generation of concerted strategies between the business community and the State, between the regions and the central administration, and between the production sectors and their representative organisations. It also requires innovative instruments for capitalisation and business development that may consolidate production structures, create solid clusters, promote vertical partnerships and better integrate value chains. This agenda should include, among its strategic priorities, a specific approach for sectors based on endogenous resources: agriculture, forestry, the sea, bioindustries and agri-food processing. These are sectors that combine territorial resilience with the capacity to create distributed value, generating employment, services (as in the case of tourism), innovation and However, action at the institutional level, however assertive it may be in the ongoing negotiations, cannot replace the need for an internal response. If the current European strategy points towards a centralisation trend and a ... action at the institutional level, however assertive it may be in the ongoing negotiatinos, cannot replace the need for an internal response ... Portugal must prepare for this new cycle. exports throughout the country. An appropriate capitalisation strategy can multiply these effects, strengthening links between producers, industry, advanced services and external markets (where the potential of the EU-Mercosur Agreement is noteworthy). likely reduction in the intensity of public and private investment support in peripheral countries, Portugal must prepare for this new cycle. The active and legitimate defence of its positions at the different levels of EU negotiations remains indispensable, but is no longer sufficient. The shift of agenda-setting power to the economic centre of the Union, combined with more centralised financial instruments and asymmetric State aid, inevitably favours the most robust its agri-food sector and value chains based on endogenous resources. The country needs to devise creative internal mechanisms that strengthen its economy and its territories, while continuing to coordinate with less intense
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