SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Nueva Canarias (NC) will promote, in the European Parliament and through the European Free Alliance (ALE), an initiative to activate the Solidarity Fund of the European Union (EU) to help La Palma in the face of the catastrophe caused by the eruptions of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, uninterrupted for a month.
NC has achieved the unanimous support of the ALE general assembly for a motion that aims to implement European instruments for disaster management, within the framework of European cohesion policy, especially the aforementioned fund created specifically to intervene in the event of natural disasters.
The coordinator of NC in Tenerife and secretary of the First Vice Presidency of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Valentín Correa, defended this week the motion with which the ALE will urge the European Parliament to activate the EU Solidarity Fund to obtain aid for La Palma and to alleviate the damage caused by the eruption of the volcano.
Correa explained, before the general assembly held in Brussels, the need to launch the aforementioned fund given the dimension and magnitude of the catastrophe, which began on September 19, as well as the unpredictability of its evolution. The spokesperson for the progressive Canaristas reported that, at present, the damage generated far exceeds 1% of the Canary Islands Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (45,720 million euros), “evidently complying with the criteria” for access to the Solidarity Fund of the Union.
After the approval and unanimous support of the Nueva Canarias motion, Correa assured that the European Free Alliance will request the immediate activation, in line with the state government, of “the instruments for disaster management, within the framework of the policy of European cohesion, especially the EU Solidarity Fund created specifically to intervene in the event of natural disasters. “
The European body points out, according to NC, that this request is part of the need to “contribute European solidarity to the affected regions”, in this case, to the island of La Palma, so that “it can be reestablished, immediately, the operation of infrastructures and equipment in the sectors of energy, water and wastewater, telecommunications, transport, health and education, and that temporary accommodation can be made available for the affected population “.
After Correa’s intervention, the president of Nueva Canarias, Román Rodríguez, participated electronically and called on the ALE and the European institutions to maintain a “unity of action” with the Canary Islands and state public administrations “in favor of and support for the citizens of La Palma “.
Valentín Correa alluded to the importance of defending this proposal in this European forum. “Coming to give a voice to the people who live on La Palma, to our compatriots, in the heart of Europe is key” so that the Union knows the reality of La Palma. The involvement of the ALE has been extraordinary, added the NC de Tenerife leader.
“They have shown sensitivity, putting on the table that we must give more visibility to this problem” in Europe, he said. Correa assured that he will work “not only for the activation of the funds, but also to solve the reality of La Palma. We have the obligation to give them a future with guarantees,” stressed the Tenerife leader.
The European Free Alliance (ALE), as explained, brings together 47 nationalist, regionalist and autonomist parties throughout the EU, which join forces and converge in the common goal of defending the singularities of their territories and their political rights.
The ALE supports the values of the European Union, the principles of freedom, democracy and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, in addition to focusing its activity on the promotion of peoples’ rights, human, civil and political rights, democracy, internal scaling-up and multi-level governance, among other issues.
