A Social Democrat MP, the long-serving Cristóvão Norte, was also on the freebie trip to the Euro2016 Hungary vs Portugal game paid for by Galp.
This is the same Galp that is in partnership with the corrupt Italian state-owned oil company ENI and has a concession to explore and produce oil or gas off the west coast of the region.
As an MP, Norte will be involved in future decision making over the controversial Galp/ENI licensing process and what should be done about oil and gas exploration in the Algarve both on and off-shore.
Any links at all to one of the oil companies is stupidity of a breathtaking proportion and Norte now will have to exempt himself from any future decisions involving Galp, thus emasculating his role as an Algarve MP.
Cristóvão Norte says the invitation to visit Lyon and to watch the match was extended to him by a friend who works for the oil giant.
Norte justifies accepting the invitation because it from a personal friend, "and not institutional in nature," but agrees that Galp paid for the trip.
The MP was treated to tickets for two games, one alongside his wife and one on his own. He was fortunate to watch the semi-final and the final while fudging his parliamentary attendance record.
Those with sense enough to decline Galp’s kind invitation to the football were the Secretary of State for Energy, Jorge Sanches Seguro, who "watched every game in Portugal," Paulo Carmona, the head of the National Body for the Fuel Market (ENMC) and Carlos Almeida, the president of the Energy and Geology Directorate General (DGEG), Carlos Almeida.
The row blew up when it was revealed that three secretaries of state attended Euro2016 as guests of Galp. The names are,
- Rocha Andrade, the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs who also attended the Euro2016 final in Paris,
- Jorge Costa Oliveira, the Secretary of State for Internationalisation
- João Vasconcelos, Secretary of State for Industry
Who will be next to step forward and admit that they were on Galp's guest list?
