Portugal: an Incomplete Europeanization

The article aims to explore Portugal’s performance in some areas that can be included in a wide concept of Europeanization: the state of the economy, the rule of law, and education. It starts with a brief reference to the evolution of the Portuguese economy since the European accession to conclude that with the adoption of the single currency Portugal entered into a phase of clear economic divergence, making it an exception within the EU. Section 2 is devoted to the rule of law. It highlights how a modern and updated legal system can have an outcome that threatens some basic foundations of the rule of law, and can also contribute to increasing social inequality. The last section focuses on some problems affecting education. Particular attention is drawn to the performance of the secondary education system and to issues related to the quality of higher education institutions.