ABSTRACT
This chapter describes European regional policy through the Common Support Frameworks (CSF) was a crucial means of democracy-building and structuring in the Portuguese case. European regional policy in the form of the structural funds became one of the central policies pushing the Portuguese political system towards a democratic governance system. The Europeanization of public administration had already started in the early 1980s and became an important priority after 1986, in view of preparing for the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in 1992. One of the most important EU policies emerging from this silent revolution was European regional policy, which was able to profit from an integration of certain funds of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This contribution highlights the fact that the European integration process was an important reinforcing factor in transforming Portugal from an authoritarian to a democratic governance system.
