The numbers recently released by APREN are revealing. There are around €60 billion of investment in renewables waiting to move forward, but blocked by permitting processes, limitations on the electricity grid and a lack of decisions. According to the study, each year of delay represents about 1.7 billion euros of tax revenue that the State fails to collect. This is no longer a discussion about energy. It is a discussion about competitiveness.

The most curious thing is that Portugal is today one of the European countries with the highest incorporation of renewable energies in electricity production. Renewable production makes it possible to reduce energy dependence, lower the cost of electricity for families and companies, and make the country more attractive for new industries. In the first half of this year, there was practically one month in which renewable production was sufficient to meet the total national consumption. In other words, we know how to produce clean energy. What is still lacking is the ability to turn that advantage into economic growth.

Unfortunately, this reality does not only happen in the energy sector. We find it in housing, where there is a lack of houses because the processes are still slow. We find it in industry, where projects wait years for permits. We find it in data centres, logistics and many other strategic sectors. The pattern repeats itself too many times. Portugal manages to attract investors but then takes too long to decide.

Of course, no one is advocating less environmental requirements or less transparency. A modern country needs clear rules and rigorous evaluation of projects. But it is one thing to scrutinise. It is quite another way to turn the decision into a process so long that the opportunity disappears before the license arrives.

We live in a global economy where capital is increasingly mobile. Investors accept rules. What they hardly accept is permanent uncertainty. When a project takes years between opinions, authorisations, and different entities, the risk is no longer in the investment and passes to the country itself.

Perhaps the time has come to change the way we assess national competitiveness. Today, it is no longer enough to ask how much investment we can attract. We need to ask how much investment we can make.

Because Portugal's real problem is no longer the lack of opportunities. It is the speed with which we are able to turn them into reality.

And in a world where decisions are being made faster and faster, perhaps the biggest risk to our economy is no longer a lack of investment. Or simply taking too long to say yes.