ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the making of the European Union (EU) policy coordination machinery in Portugal. It analyzes thoroughly the structure and culture of the present EU policy coordination machinery. The chapter focuses on the interaction of the EU policy coordination machinery and the political and administrative environment. The last provisional government of the revolutionary period complied with this condition of the European Community, in spite of the continuing radicalization and instrumentalization of the masses against their policies by extreme left-wing groups and the Communist party. The government created the Council of Ministers for Community Affairs, which dealt exclusively with coordination issues related to European affairs. The lack of pressure coming from the institutional environment is helped also by a weakly organized civil society. The highest level of renewal can be seen in the largest department dealing with political and foreign affairs, which had a major renewal in 1993 after end of the Portuguese presidency.
