Selv for Portugal, hvis udsigter er større afstand til den europæiske vækst og øget arbejdsløshed, især for kvinder og unge, hvor lønmodtagerne rammes af øget inflation og dermed faldende købekraft, selv om de har de laveste lønninger i EU, er opskriften stadig den samme: løntilbageholdenhed, større mulighed for afskedigelse og fremskrivning af stabilitetspagtens mål i form af større nedskæringer i de offentlige udgifter i budgettet for 2002.
Even for Portugal, whose prospects indicate greater difficulties in reaching the European growth level and higher unemployment, especially amongst women and young people, a country in which workers are being punished by higher inflation and the concomitant loss of buying power, despite still having the lowest wages in the European Union, the remedy is the same: wage moderation, making it easier for employers to make redundancies, and working towards the objectives of the Stability Pact, with a greater reduction in public spending in the 2002 budget.