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After opening an infringement procedure in January, the European Commission has now sent a Reasoned Opinion giving the Government a period of one month to change national legislation. If the Government does not comply, the next step will be the European court.

The Government has one month to change the way in which used cars imported from other member states are taxed in Portugal. If it does not do so, the European Commission will consider taking the case to the European court. The decision was communicated to the government on Wednesday and follows the infringement proceedings opened earlier this year.

Since then, the Ministry of Finance has presented its case to Brussels, but this has not been enough for the Commission to change its position.

At issue, it is recalled, that in calculating the Vehicle Tax (ISV) applicable to imported used cars national legislation does not take into account the age of the cars when calculating the environmental component of the tax for depreciation purposes. .

Speaking to the Business, Vanessa Mock, spokeswoman for the Commission for Tax and Customs Affairs, explains that “this means that used cars imported from other Member States are taxed more heavily compared to used cars bought in the Portuguese market, which brings difficulties for small car dealerships and higher prices for consumers. ”

Brussels believes that this is a matter of competition within the Community, as the country “discriminates against foreign cars” and therefore Portuguese legislation “is not compatible with single market rules” and treaties, more precisely with the Article 110 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on freedom of movement.

At this point, Vanessa Mock goes on, there is no doubt that this is a “problem that needs to be solved” and “the sooner the better”. The Commission has been receiving “a significant number of complaints” and has “an indication that SMEs in the sector are under pressure because of current legislation”.

António Mendonça Mendes, Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, has confirmed to the Business that he has received the reasoned opinion, but says that he is still “assessing how to respond to Brussels”.

Portuguese consumer organisation Deco warns: some Amazon, Booking.com, or TripAdvisor reviews may be false

The site Amazon has the largest number of suspects Comments (8.4%) in a study involving Deco and three other associations of European consumers. Second is TripAdvisor (6.2% of the statements are doubtful) and, third, Booking (2.1%).

Between June and August of this year, they analyzed 6.3 million opinions for 46,500 products and hotels, and concluded that “some of the opinions contained on the sites of the three platforms may be false.”

The results indicate that 60.5 thousand reviews on Booking.com raise suspicion as to its veracity, as do 14.6 thousand reviews published on Amazon and 10.7 thousand on TripAdvisor.

Associations explain that those online service providers have developed “some tools and strategies to minimize suspicious opinions,” but not only did they not solve the problem, but they don’t seem concerned, consumer associations say.

“The results of our study would not be very serious if the platforms we looked at were concerned with the false ratings that are published. But, on the contrary, the poor control and permissiveness of the criteria for posting opinions mirrors the careless and timid way try to control this phenomenon, which is very far from the standards required to defend the interests of consumers “.

Consumer representatives believe that there should be a validated register of users making comments; the obligation to make a purchase to post an opinion; prior checking of user trustworthiness and comment; the creation of mechanisms that detect both sudden increases in comments and user verification to reduce the possibility of robot intervention.

It is the practices they want to see applied by Amazon, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor, who will present the results of the study.

What was analyzed?

The technicians analyzed the comments and who made them, in 11 parameters, with different levels of importance and weights. In particular, they verified the existence of repeated sentences in different evaluations, the concentration of opinions in short periods, the deleted comments, unverified purchases and the amount of opinions of the same user.

They also took into account the profile of the evaluators: whether they only gave one opinion or made several comments on different products, for example. They checked if the reviewers always gave very positive opinions and if there were comments deleted by the platform or regarding unverified purchases.

The analysis was done in two periods to check for deleted comments and / or deleted users from July to August.

“When a product failed in many ways, significantly altering the final score, we thought it was affected by opinions that were suspected to be false,” write the technicians.

What is suspicious?

Understanding false comments is not easy, but associations leave some warning signs:

– Verify who is responsible for the transaction, if you are a vendor outside the platform he may be tempted to illicitly promote the products.

– A product has many excellent ratings (five stars) and at the same time many negative reviews (one star).

– Older opinions all have very high scores compared to the latest and coincide on certain dates.

– Give preference to verified comments made by those who actually purchased the product

– See other comments by the same author. You have purchased more than one product from different brands and rated them all with five stars; bought several products of the same type; never gave an opinion on an article from a recognized brand?

– Opinion includes many photos or even a video. “It’s unusual for someone who is satisfied with a product or service to put so much effort into promoting it,” they warn.

Christmas lights contracted by the Regional Government and installed by Teixeira Couto have been vandalized even before being turned on in downtown Funchal.

The company will file a complaint with PSP (police) the Diario understands. It has also been told by the company that is keen to alert the public to be aware of vandalism in the Christmas lighting facilities in Funchal.

Lisbon, 25 Nov 2019 (Lusa) – The Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV) has recorded over 100,000 crimes in the context of domestic violence in five years and supported over 43,000 people, the majority (86%) women.

In a set of statistics covering the period 2013-2018 released today, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, APAV recalls that it recorded a total of 43,456 cases supporting domestic victims of violence, which translates into a total of 104,729 crimes.

Aged between 26 and 55 years (about 42%), the victims of domestic violence were mostly married women (33.7%) and belonged to a type of nuclear family with children (41.2%). .

Considering the type of existing problems, the type of continued victimization prevails in about 80% of situations, with an average duration between two and six years (16.9%). APAV data indicate that residence was the most chosen location for the “occurrence of crimes” in about 64% of situations.

The reported complaints / complaints are 41.2% compared to the total number of reported perpetrators.

The victims are still mostly female – around 86% – the same percentage of male perpetrators / perpetrators.

“The phenomenon of domestic violence against women encompasses victims of all social and economic backgrounds and strata. Violence – physical, psychological, sexual, financial – cannot be tolerated, ”stresses APAV.

Within the framework of the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, APAV states that it is associated with the #Declarations by the Portuguese Republic and the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (IGC) campaign, and promotes exhibitions, sessions and actions. nationwide through their victim support offices.

Data released last Friday by the government indicate that 33 people were killed this year in the context of domestic violence, including 25 adult women, one child and seven men.

According to the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, between January and September of this year, compared to the same period last year, there was “an increase of more than 10% of the occurrences reported to PSP and GNR”, besides a “Increased responsiveness of the national support network for victims of domestic violence, which now has a 23% increase in attendance.”

On the same day, the Women’s Alternative and Response Union (UMAR), in a review of the past 15 years, indicated that more than 500 women were killed in the context of intimate relationships during this period, and that this year alone 28 died, some of them shot. , others strangled or beaten.

The data from UMAR’s Observatory of Murdered Women (OMA) can be found in the preliminary report presented in Lisbon which shows the reality of women murdered in Portugal from January 1st to November 12th.

During this period, and based on the news published in the national press, the OMA counted 28 women murdered in the context of intimate or family relations, in addition to two others killed in different contexts, and 27 attempted murders.

On balance, it means that on average there were three women murdered every month and an average of five women victims of extreme violence.

In a message on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is marked today, the Prime Minister defended today that all citizens should “reap” to eliminate violence against women.

“All of us in society, each of us, have a responsibility in their family, their neighbours, their colleagues, among their friends not to tolerate, not to compromise, not to silence, and even to reap in order to eliminate violence against them.” women, “said Antonio Costa.

“Each of us has a duty to act. The traditional proverb that husband and wife do not get the spoon is not acceptable. What is the duty of each of us is to get the spoon. It is a duty of each.” , he stressed.

The population of Sines, on the Alentejo coast, is alarmed by the increase of stray dogs roaming the city streets, forcing the municipality to set up a collection centre to try to stop the phenomenon.

“There are several packs that are more or less identified, some with about 30 dogs. As the dogs are not sterilized, every three months there are between 20 and 30 dogs”, according to Alexandra Bento, President of “4 Patas”, animal protection association in Sines (Setúbal district).

Along with some volunteers and two cares, the caretaker spends part of her days trying to help “the 180 or so stray dogs” so far counted by the association, which spends nearly 10,000 euros each year on clinics and medicines to help the animals.

“Our daily routine is to help these animals, rescue them when they are injured and try to find owners for their babies. Many times it is not possible, because after three or four months, they already know how to defend themselves, making their rescue very difficult”, she says.

The animals “are fed daily by care givers”, two 70-year-old women who receive food provided by the association for “dogs in small shelters”.

Built by volunteers, mostly cardboard and palletized, the shelters “protect them from rain and cold” and become permanent home for packs who recognize carers and tolerate their daily visits in exchange for food and water.

But these sites can become a public health problem, and she is advocating changes in legislation to “allow sterilization of street dogs” and to prevent “the pack from continuing to grow”.

Without a kennel, wandering animals congregate in groups around large commercial areas, in neighbourhoods, gardens and the outskirts of the city and do not go unnoticed by most people who fear attacks.

“There are sometimes people who are attacked,” Susa Mayor Nuno Mascarenhas admits to Lusa, claiming to have ‘inherited’ a problem that has been going on for many years since the closure of the only kennel that existed in the county.

The Lusa agency asked the authorities for more information regarding possible complaints of dog attacks on the public road, but to no avail.

 

This year alone, a total of 70 dogs were collected in the city of Sines and “most of them were given up for adoption,” explains the mayor, who advanced this year with the construction of an Official Pet Collection Center (CRO).

“The camera is trying to pick up the dogs and find locations in private [canine hotel] units, paying to let the animals, but we have recently decided to move forward with the work of the CRO, which we expect to be completed by 2020 to meet these needs,” the statement said. Mayor

This “much faster response” is applauded by the Sines animal advocacy association, but “not enough” to “accommodate the number of stray dogs that currently exist in the city” and which, according to Alexandra Bento, “has been getting worse, with the increased abandonment of companion dogs.”

“The camera rescues these animals, which are the most dangerous, because they can’t walk in the street to some temporary boxes that are full. Therefore, the work of the CRO is welcome, but it would be essential not only for Sines but for the whole country to be allowed to sterilize the street dogs or to advance with the construction of ‘pack spaces’, “argues the official.

According to the mayor, the collection centre, with an investment of 197 thousand euros, “will be just a transit zone” for a large number of these stray animals, since it is planned to build an inter-municipal kennel to “minimize this problem”.

“The five municipalities of the Alentejo coast (Sines, Santiago do Cacém, Grândola, Alcácer do Sal and Odemira) have decided to build an intermunicipal kennel in Santiago do Cacém, a project that is at a very early stage and will provide a sufficient response to the problems that we have had in this region, ”he says.

 

Two men were arrested after a police operation for being “heavily indicted” for qualified robbery, damage and possession of prohibited weapons, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said on Friday, believing it had dismantled a “criminal group”.

In a statement, the Northern Directorate of the PJ describes that during the early hours of Friday, in the police operation organised to arrest these two suspects, “there was a need to open fire to stop them, especially since they were carrying two guns and tried to use them against police.”

The PJ stated that  it had disbanded “a criminal group” suspected last month of “committing about 30 crimes of robberies at fuel stations and others, criminal damage an attempted homicide.”

“On the night of 14^th and 15^th November the group committed 14 firearm-related crimes in which they indiscriminately fired at the victims,” ​​PJ says, saying the two men have “vast criminal records.”

This Friday, “when approaching the police to make arrests, the suspects reacted violently, disregarding orders and attacking police vehicles,” PJ describes.

Following the persecution in Vila Nova de Gaia, the men were taken to hospital due to “injuries sustained in making their arrest”.

According to PJ, a first member of the group had been arrested at  dawn on 17^th November, after having committed “three more crimes”.

This first detainee was awaiting the outcome of the trial in custody, PJ added.

With these three arrests, the PJ “dismantled a criminal group that for about a month had been committing violent crimes against property and people using firearms.”

Lisbon, 21 Nov 2019 (Lusa) – Home Affairs Minister Eduardo Cabrita today highlighted “responsible unionism” and the “high democratic maturity” of the demonstration that today brought together over 13,000 PSP and GNR military agents in Lisbon .

In a statement at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Lisbon, after the protest was over, Eduardo Cabrita said that “the Government values ​​social dialogue.”

The official assured that he will continue the dialogue already started with the representative associations of the PSP and the GNR, in what he called the program of social dialogue and action for the “valorisation” of the security forces. He did not comment on the possibility admitted today by the professionals for a new demonstration for January 21st.

According to the minister, this program “integrates matters that are expressly foreseen in the Government’s program, namely a multi-annual program of recruitment to the security forces that allows them to be rejuvenated and to regain an operational capacity that the level of recruitment of the last two years has allowed.

Eduardo Cabrita spoke of “taking stock of the experience of the security forces programming law, which will allow us to start working on the new programming law for the period after 2021”.

He also said that priority will be given to a health and safety at work, which will give these professionals a regime that is appropriate to their type of specific safety safeguard duties for the Portuguese.

The minister added that an analysis of the remuneration regime will be made, considering the framework of supplements, allowances and additional remuneration that are received by the two security forces so that it can be coherent to adopt it in the future.

Eduardo Cabrita pointed out that PSP also assured today the security conditions in the framework of its functions to safeguard the right of demonstration and the right of movement and conveyed a message of recognition to the professionals who guaranteed it in the city of Lisbon..

Protesters from the security forces began at about 1 pm at the Marquis de Pombal, from where a parade to the parliament took place, where around 13,000 protesters, according to the organization, were guarded by a strong police force.

The peaceful demonstration was still marked by several symbolic and peaceful acts, and the threat of a new protest was threatened if the government failed to meet its demands.

Nearly 20% of home and leisure accidents that required emergency use in the first half of this year occurred in seniors over 75, mostly at home (67%), according to official figures.

According to data from the EVITA − Epidemiology and Surveillance of Injuries and Accidents, coordinated by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA, IP), between January and June this year 60,000 domestic accidents were recorded in the emergency room of health services, mostly in men (31,176).

The EVITA system collects and analyses data on home and leisure accidents that have led to the emergency of health units of the National Health Service (NHS).

Data from January to June this year, 14% of people who resorted to the emergency response for domestic leisure accidents, were between 10 and 14 years old and that the majority occurred in schools / public places. (60%).

One in ten cases of emergency use for domestic accidents was with elderly people between 65 and 74 years old, most (62%) at home, as well as one in ten adults between 20 and 34 years old (45 % at home).

According to figures recorded by EVITA, accidents involving children under the age of four who had to resort to emergencies occurred mostly at home (66%), but from that age on and up to 19 years the largest weight goes to accidents in schools. or in public places.

The age group 0-4 years was the one that least resorted (7%) to the urgencies of public services for domestic and leisure accidents, followed by people between 45 and 54 years (8%), mostly for accidents at home. (61%), outdoors (13%) or in transportation areas (10%).

Data from the EVITA system also indicate that more than half of accidents requiring emergency public health care occur at home (53% in women and 42% in men) and that workplace accidents account for only 2%. % (women) and 4% (men).

In the first half of the year, May was the month in which most domestic and leisure accidents (12,526) forced to resort to emergencies, while the month with the fewest records was June (9,189).

As for the distribution of the number of domestic and leisure accidents by day of the week, Tuesday was the day with the most emergency resources for this reason (9,157 cases). At the opposite end is Sunday, with 8,129 records.

The EVITA surveillance program, created in 2000, is part of the IDB Network (Injury DataBase), together with organizations from 25 countries of the European Association for Injury Prevention (EuroSafe).

The system is based on the registration of home and leisure accidents in a sample of NHS emergency services. These accidents are defined as all whose cause is not illness, car accident, work accident or violence.

 

Chief Superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police (PSP), Jorge Maurício, warned on 19^th November about the cases of assaults on police, revealing that 238 incidents were registered between January and September this year.

“We must not forget that the police are the visible face of state authority,” said Jorge Mauricio, arguing that the institutions, particularly the judiciary, should intervene in the situation of aggression against security forces.

Attending the PSP’s 152 anniversary commemorative ceremony of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command, the Minister of Internal Affairs considered that “aggression against a police officer is an aggression against the democratic rule of law that must be exemplarily repressed”, pointing out that personal integrity and the image of respect for police forces are at stake.

Recalling that Portugal was recently distinguished as the third safest country in the world, Eduardo Cabrita praised the contribution of the “most demanding standards of police action”, with technical and operational capacity to know how, when and how to intervene.

“It is a police for the defence of the rule of democratic law, a police that tolerates neither domestic violence nor racism nor xenophobia, a police force that is an active force for inclusion”, reinforced by the Minister.

In addition to the 238 assaulted police cases recorded in the first nine months of this year, PSP’s chief superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command made known “the other party”, in which 1,215 police cases have been filed from 2014 to September this year.

Of the total cases brought against police, 876 were filed, which corresponds to 72%, 177 are awaiting decision (14%), 23 were decided with penalty and seven were appealed against, according to data from the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon.

For crime, operating results, comparing 2018 to 2019, point to a reduction of overall crime by more than 5.5% and a 16% decrease in violent and serious crime.

“Very good numbers for what is, at this moment, the issue of human resources”, considered Jorge Maurício, revealing that there are today 1,255 fewer police than in 2011.

On operational concerns, the Chief Superintendent listed the incidence of crimes against the most vulnerable groups, such as scams against the elderly, of stab wounds, which this year saw a sharp increase, and the sale of pressed laurel (sold as fake drugs), which creates a very strong image of unpleasantness of the city and accounting for around 600 case reports in 2018.

Regarding operational “success”, the head of PSP’s Lisbon Metropolitan Command indicated the issue of pickpockets, where there was “more than 30% reduction in crime in this typology”, and “many preventive arrests”, including in cases of domestic violence.

Chief Superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the Public Security Police (PSP), Jorge Maurício, warned on 19^th November about the cases of assaults on police, revealing that 238 incidents were registered between January and September this year.

“We must not forget that the police are the visible face of state authority,” said Jorge Mauricio, arguing that the institutions, particularly the judiciary, should intervene in the situation of aggression against security forces.

Attending the PSP’s 152 anniversary commemorative ceremony of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command, the Minister of Internal Affairs considered that “aggression against a police officer is an aggression against the democratic rule of law that must be exemplarily repressed”, pointing out that personal integrity and the image of respect for police forces are at stake.

Recalling that Portugal was recently distinguished as the third safest country in the world, Eduardo Cabrita praised the contribution of the “most demanding standards of police action”, with technical and operational capacity to know how, when and how to intervene.

“It is a police for the defence of the rule of democratic law, a police that tolerates neither domestic violence nor racism nor xenophobia, a police force that is an active force for inclusion”, reinforced by the Minister.

In addition to the 238 assaulted police cases recorded in the first nine months of this year, PSP’s chief superintendent of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command made known “the other party”, in which 1,215 police cases have been filed from 2014 to September this year.

Of the total cases brought against police, 876 were filed, which corresponds to 72%, 177 are awaiting decision (14%), 23 were decided with penalty and seven were appealed against, according to data from the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon.

For crime, operating results, comparing 2018 to 2019, point to a reduction of overall crime by more than 5.5% and a 16% decrease in violent and serious crime.

“Very good numbers for what is, at this moment, the issue of human resources”, considered Jorge Maurício, revealing that there are today 1,255 fewer police than in 2011.

On operational concerns, the Chief Superintendent listed the incidence of crimes against the most vulnerable groups, such as scams against the elderly, of stab wounds, which this year saw a sharp increase, and the sale of pressed laurel (sold as fake drugs), which creates a very strong image of unpleasantness of the city and accounting for around 600 case reports in 2018.

Regarding operational “success”, the head of PSP’s Lisbon Metropolitan Command indicated the issue of pickpockets, where there was “more than 30% reduction in crime in this typology”, and “many preventive arrests”, including in cases of domestic violence.