Speaking to journalists in Ponta Delgada, José Manuel Bolieiro stressed that a new Regional Finance Law should "guarantee predictability and regularity" and ensure the "understanding of the differences" between the Azores and Madeira. "All of this can be foreseen in a single law, as it can be foreseen in separate laws. It is also my deep conviction that the autonomous regions united make a better voice, with more success before the centralists of the Republic", declared the regional leader, after the General Assembly of the Islands Commission of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR). The president of the Azorean executive had been questioned about the statements of the former presidents of the governments of the Azores and Madeira Mota Amaral and Alberto João Jardim who, on Monday, showed reservations about the creation of a Regional Finance Law common to the archipelagos, defended by the regional executives. Today, José Manuel Bolieiro reiterated the commitment of the regional governments of the Azores and Madeira to present a common law and added that the work to prepare the proposal will be resumed with the coordination of Eduardo Paz Ferreira. Stressing that the electoral contexts conditioned the work, the president of the Government of the Azores expressed the intention of having a proposal by the end of the year. José Manuel Bolieiro warned, however, of the differences between the Azores and Madeira. "The aid for the development of the Azores cannot be of equal recognition and dimension of the aid for Madeira because the constraints of the Azores and its development are greater", he defended. At a conference held in Ponta Delgada on Monday, Mota Amaral and Alberto João Jardim warned of the risks of a common Regional Finance Law for the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira. "We have to have the strength to speak loudly in Lisbon, but beware: another thing is the specificity of each territory. I know that the president of the Government [of the Azores] has coordinated with the president of the Government of Madeira a common regional finance law. I always have many doubts", said Alberto João Jardim, who led the Madeiran executive between 1978 and 2015. Mota Amaral, who led the Government of the Azores between 1976 and 1995, highlighted the "identities" of each archipelago. "Alberto João Jardim said that the best thing would be to make two regional finance laws, perhaps. In fact, I remember having summarized this notion. The autonomous regions are autonomous in relation to the continental territory of the Republic and are autonomous among themselves. This is fundamental for their own identity to be respected and for each one to follow its own path", said the former president of the Assembly of the Republic. In September 2022, the leaders of the regional governments of the Azores and Madeira, the social democrats José Manuel Bolieiro and Miguel Albuquerque, announced that they would present a joint proposal for the revision of the Regional Finance Law. Read Also: Bolieiro defends that the islands "must establish themselves as laboratories of the future" (Portuguese version)