Outermost Regions Declaration welcomes Azorean Government's demands - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação, Cultura e Desporto

The Government of the Azores has seen key demands for the Region in the areas of agriculture, fisheries and transport included in the Final Declaration of the 30th Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions of the European Union.

“The inclusion of these proposals in the joint position of the nine Outermost Regions strengthens the defence of the Azores’ interests at a decisive stage in the negotiations on the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework,” stated the Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport, Sofia Ribeiro, who represented the President of the Azores Regional Government at the Conference, held in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe.

The Final Declaration advocates maintaining the agricultural POSEI as a stand-alone programme with an increased budget, a position shared by the nine outermost regions.

The document also endorses the Azores’ call for the re-establishment of an autonomous POSEI-Fisheries programme, with increased funding adapted to the additional costs incurred by the fisheries sector in Outermost Regions.

The proposal to establish a POSEI-Transport programme was also included. Such a programme would have its own resources and fall outside the scope of cohesion policy funds. It would also be designed to address the ongoing costs associated with remoteness and territorial fragmentation.

According to Sofia Ribeiro, “there is still a significant gap between the political recognition of the specific characteristics of Outermost Regions and the establishment of financial, legislative and governance instruments capable of providing an effective response to them.”

Therefore, the government official defended the need to further develop the operational dimension of the Strategy for the Outermost Regions, through the introduction of tangible measures and the corresponding funding.

Policy-makers from the nine regions expressed concern about the disconnect between the recognition of the strategic value of the outermost regions by the European Union and the financial instruments envisaged for the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

In this context, the Final Declaration reiterates the contribution of the Outermost Regions to the sovereignty, resilience and geopolitical standing of the European Union, particularly in the fields of the blue economy, scientific research, space, the energy transition, connectivity and security.

In her speech, Sofia Ribeiro also highlighted the need to secure a significantly increased specific allocation for Outermost Regions and ensure the participation of the Azores and Madeira in all stages of the national implementation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

“We cannot accept that the recognition of the specific characteristics of the Outermost Regions should be confined to one-off measures, or that it should be lost or sidelined within a centralised management approach that is detached from the realities of our territories,” she emphasised.

The 30th Conference was chaired by Ary Chalus, President of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, whilst the presidency of the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions was handed over to the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque.