General profile Digital profile

Portugal

Digital snapshot – key policies and laws

Digital infrastructure is now one of Portugal’s strongest governance assets. The country combines extensive fibre and 5G coverage with a growing Atlantic role in submarine cables, including Google’s planned Nuvem route through Sines and the Azores and the 2Africa landing at Carcavelos. In 2026, Portugal approved a National Data Centre Plan and a National Plan for Sovereign Cloud, aiming to expand compute capacity while addressing energy use, licensing, resilience and public-sector control over sensitive systems.

Portugal’s ANIA

Portugal’s ANIA (National Artificial Intelligence Agenda) marks a shift from AI as an innovation slogan to AI as a governance programme. Backed by more than €400 million, the agenda links AI adoption to public-sector reform, SME competitiveness, digital skills, infrastructure and compliance with the EU AI Act. Its focus is not only on attracting technology investment, but also on making AI usable in public administration, business services and Portuguese-language contexts. As part of the National Digital Strategy, it connects AI with data, compute capacity, skills, public-sector reform and responsible use. The main policy test is implementation: helping SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise) and public bodies adopt AI. In other words, it means clear oversight, human review, data protection, cybersecurity, public trust and access for smaller firms and less digitally prepared communities.

The European Commission’s 2025 Digital Decade report notes stable progress in digital public services and solid connectivity, while Portugal’s national roadmap includes 157 measures worth €2.15 billion. Government reporting also says Portugal rose from 14th to 8th place in the 2025 European eGovernment Benchmark study.

Portugal’s legal and regulatory framework is closely aligned with the EU law. The GDPR is implemented through Law No. 58/2019 and is supervised by the CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados / National Commission for Data Protection), which has taken visible action in high-risk cases, such as the temporary suspension of Worldcoin’s biometric data collection in 2024.

In cybersecurity, Decree-Law No. 125/2025 transposed NIS2 and introduced a new cybersecurity legal regime, while CNCS (National Centre for Cybersecurity) remains the central national authority. Portugal also implemented the EU’s Digital Services Act through Law No. 12-A/2026, designating ANACOM (National Communications Authority) as the Digital Services Coordinator and assigning related roles to media and data protection regulators.

Portugal’s digital economy is supported by e-commerce rules, an open data policy and digital public infrastructure. Decree-Law No. 7/2004 remains the core e-commerce framework, now updated by the DSA (Digital Services Act) implementation law, while consumer protection, VAT rules, privacy ((GDPR)) and platform regulation shape online trade. The national open-data portal and data-governance reforms have also gained visibility: Portugal was recently described by its digital policy portal as a EU ‘Trendsetter’ in open data, with strong performance on impact, metadata and portal quality.

Portugal’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva:

The Permanent Mission of Portugal to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva represents Portugal in Geneva-based multilateral institutions, including UN bodies and specialised agencies. The UN Geneva Blue Book lists the Mission at Rue de Moillebeau 58, Geneva, and confirms its official website and contact details.

Official UNOG website: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/portugal

EMBASSY AND PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN – GENEVA

Consult Portugal’s digital strategies and regulations

Here you can explore the country’s main digital strategies, laws, and regulations by simply asking the chatbot, which is designed to help you quickly find relevant documents and understand the country’s digital policy landscape.