The MEPs are investigating alleged contraventions or mismanagement in the application of European tax rules. The commission was staying in Lisbon until this Friday and the list of meetings include MPs, reporters, heads of the Bank of Portugal and the attorney general, Joana Marques Vidal.
Their requests to speak with others such as former PM José Sócrates (who is no longer in jail), the former minister and head of BCP and CGD Armando Vara, (involved and found guilty in several high-profile criminal cases), Judge Carlos Alexandre and the former secretary of state for tax affairs, Paulo Núncio, were all refused.
In the Portuguese case, the questions have to do with money being sent to tax havens and the tax regime in the Madeira tax-free zone.