Dear President of the Republic,

Dear Minister of the Presidency,

Dear President of the Regional Government of Madeira,

Dear President of the Regional Assembly of Madeira,

Commissioner for the Commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Portugal's accession to the European Union,

Commissioner for the Commemoration of 50 Years of Autonomy,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me, as a Portuguese and European Ombudsman, to share with you this symbolic moment, in which we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Portugal’s accession to the European Union and the 50th anniversary of Madeira’s autonomy.

The celebrations always invite us to look at the path travelled. For what we were. But they also invite us to reflect on the values that have made this path possible. And for that, for what we are. In Madeira, it is difficult to find a more inspiring symbol of these values than the motto of Infante D. Henrique: Talent from bien faire - willingness to do well.

There are expressions that resist time. Not because they are engraved in stone, but because they express something that remains true from generation to generation. The motto of Prince Henry the Navigator is one of them. Centuries later, it continues to express admirably what inspires public service, responsibility and commitment to the common good.

It is also a particularly suitable currency for Madeira.

It was under the impetus of the Infante that this archipelago entered European history. And it was from here, from this encounter between land and ocean, that one of the most extraordinary Portuguese vocations was affirmed: The ability to look at the horizon not as a limit, but as an invitation.

The dates we celebrate today invite us precisely to look at the path taken.

Fifty years of autonomy of Madeira. Forty years after the accession of Portugal to the European Union.

They are distinct milestones, but united by the same idea: confidence in the ability of people and communities to build their own future.

It was these people, these communities, who chose autonomy in 1976 and accession in 1986. They did it in freedom and democracy. The freedom that autonomy reinforces. The democracy that Europe deepens.

The fifty years of autonomy represent affirmation, responsibility and development. They represent the capacity of an island region to turn challenges into opportunities, preserving its own identity while enhancing its contribution to the national and European as a whole.

More than an institutional reality, autonomy is now part of the history lived by generations of Madeirans who helped build a more prosperous region, more dynamic and more open to the world. A region that brings Europe closer to the Atlantic.

Portugal's forty years in the European Union tell a complementary story: the choice, also free and democratic, to participate in a common project based on peace, solidarity and the rule of law.

A choice that has brought peoples together, created opportunities and demonstrated that cooperation will always be stronger than division.

As the European Ombudsman, I have the privilege of observing on a daily basis a particularly human dimension of this common construction. Through the concerns, expectations and complaints that come to my office, I meet demanding citizens who are attentive and deeply committed to European values.

This experience constantly reminds me that the European Union is not just a set of institutions or treaties. It is first and foremost a community of citizens who expect to be heard, respected and treated fairly. And it is this demand that keeps the European promise alive and relevant.

Madeira occupies a unique place in this history.

Portuguese, Atlantic and European region, shows us that identity and integration are not opposite concepts. On the contrary: They reinforce each other.

It shows us that it is possible to be deeply faithful to one's roots and, at the same time, to participate in a broader project. That belonging does not diminish identity, but enlarges it.

Perhaps this is why Madeira symbolises so well one of the great lessons of European construction.

The European Union was born of the courage to imagine something that did not yet exist. The courage to turn old borders into meeting places. The courage to replace the logic of force with the force of dialogue. The courage to believe that different peoples could jointly build a common destiny.

That courage is still needed.

We live in challenging times , marked by rapid changes, uncertainties and challenges that no country can cope with alone. And it is precisely in these moments that we remember the importance of trust.

Throughout my mandate, I have learned that citizens’ trust is not born of perfection, which no one achieves. It is born of honesty, the seriousness of the commitments made and the coherence between words and actions. And this posture is more than achievable: is desirable.

It is this trust that underpins democratic institutions. It is this trust that brings citizens closer to Europe. And it is this trust that makes it possible to transform diversity into unity and difference into cooperation.

Above all, trust is born when there is a real will to do good.

Willingness to serve, to listen and to build solutions that put people at the centre.

This is why the motto of Infante D. Henrique remains so current.

Because it doesn't just talk about the past. It speaks of an attitude towards the future.

It speaks of the determination to continue to move forward, even when the horizon is not yet fully defined.

It speaks of the ambition to do better, to serve better and to build better.

It also speaks of hope.

Hope for a Europe that continues to believe in the strength of cooperation.

Hope in communities like this, which demonstrate every day that identity can coexist with openness, and that the Atlantic can be a bridge between peoples and not a distance between them.

And the hope in the citizens, whose demand, participation and sense of justice continue to give meaning to the European project.

Fifty years of autonomy. Forty years of European integration.

These are dates that invite us to celebrate what has been achieved, but also to renew the responsibility for what is still to be built.

Let us do so inspired by this simple and powerful motto that has passed through the centuries without losing its timeliness:

The will to do well.

Always. For everyone.

Thank you very much. And thank you very much to Madeira, for continuing to remind us that the vaster horizons often begin on an island.