Berta Pérez, Minister of the Treasury of the Cabildo de Tenerife, relies on administrative innovation as a lever for economic recovery. Good use of European Next Generation funds is key. Hence, the Cabildo and the Novagob Foundation hold a conference on these funds this Friday.
Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, hosts this Friday the Local Administration in Resilience conference on the management of European recovery funds due to the crisis derived from the coronavirus. How important is this meeting?
Everything related to recovery, transformation and resilience funds is the most important thing for public administrations today. They are the help that will get us out of this tremendous crisis, but at the same time they carry a transformative power because it will allow us to have a stronger, modern administration, and with a more ecological, digital and egalitarian vision from the point of view of gender. , in addition to greater social, economic and territorial cohesion.
It is a challenge that forces the administration to make a greater effort in the effectiveness and efficiency of the selected projects.
The funds are not conceived only to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which too, but require different attitudes and skills from us. It is the moment of ideas. The exercise is to get the projects right, which really transform Tenerife and the rest of the Canary Islands, and we trust – as many social and political agents have requested – that the European Union will be sensitive, as it has been until now, and that the deadlines will be extended. of justification that are initially planned until 2023. At the Cabildo de Tenerife we have an advantage with our strategic planning office, which from the Presidency plans and coordinates all important projects.
What type of audience is the session of next day 3 mainly aimed at?
The conference, with a face-to-face and online format, is mainly intended for representatives of public administrations, public employees, companies and professional associations. However, we want to make the most of the presence of the speakers from the state administration in Tenerife to bring together the Cabildos in their natural associative body, which is the Canary Islands Federation (Fecai), and, in this way, get to know first-hand how to get the most out of these funds. With this meeting we also seek to reinforce the role of the Cabildos that, in addition to local corporations, are institutions of the autonomous community and that, therefore, differ greatly from the general regime of the Peninsula represented by the figure of the provincial councils. Our competence list is much higher than the latter, which justifies our unique organization and operation, recognized by our own regulations, the Law of Island Councils. In this sense, in the management of these resources there must be synergy between all the administrations involved in their distribution.
From your experience, is the administrative machinery of the Cabildo and that of the 31 city councils of the Island sufficiently oiled to adequately manage this flow of resources?
The public administrations, and even more so after so many years of cutting public services, derived from the almost austerity measures to get out of the 2008 crisis, unfortunately we are never sufficiently greased, because the social reality imposes huge challenges on us and even, sometimes , unpredictable, but we are putting all the measures to make this possible. In this, the Cabildo de Tenerife plays with an advantage. In 2020 we approved a Modernization Plan (2021-2023) with eight lines of action that are developed in different projects and some indicators that we are effectively and efficiently fulfilling. In addition, it is aligned with the Spain Can plan and with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In this sense, I can say that we are transforming the Cabildo from the point of view of modernization.
What does this modernization imply that you value so much?
Modernization basically entails a paradigm shift. It doesn’t just affect technology. It involves a change in organizational structures, the mentality of human resources and, above all, a reduction in processing times and administrative obstacles to improve the service to citizens. And all this within a framework of transparency and the promotion of participation and collaboration. The Cabildo, in this difficult stage of COVID-19, has been a model in modernization. Of the little that the pandemic brought good is that many projects were advanced in its application because we were forced to do so. We have created a Recruitment Office, which will make it possible to combine criteria and deepen the rationalization measures for administrative hiring that the law offers (framework agreements, dynamic hiring systems …) functioning as an advisory board, albeit with executive power. And the most important thing: we are exporting it to the other Cabildos and to the rest of the island’s municipalities. I say this because one of the most relevant projects of the aforementioned Modernization Plan is comprehensive assistance to municipalities, especially those with less than 20,000 inhabitants and within them, those with the least economic and management capacity. It is a benefit to which we are obliged by the Cabildos Law and to which we have given legal form, with the implementation and regulation of a Comprehensive Assistance Office for municipalities that voluntarily adhere to our rationalization measures.
How to contribute to the equitable and balanced distribution of these resources throughout the island territory?
There are several mechanisms. The important thing is to launch tractor projects that transform society, but at the same time there are different areas in which to act: the local administration –which includes the Island and the municipalities–, and the regional administration. There are calls and grants that are directly addressed to the municipalities. The important thing is to join forces and promote territorial cohesion through the integration of city councils and councils in specific projects. Coordination of all administrations is essential. And this without forgetting the importance of public-private collaboration. The event that we have organized has that purpose.
How do you rate the appointment of the day after tomorrow on a global level?
I would qualify it as a decisive appointment for the Island and for the Canary Islands. The Cabildo de Tenerife, through the Tenerife Modernization and Tourism area, and the Novagob Foundation organize the conference – Local Administration in Resilience, Friday 3, Tenerife Auditorium, from 09:00 to 14:00. I am referring to this character as a decisive appointment by offering first-hand information on the plans and transformations that the public administration has to undertake in the coming years and the times foreseen for it to carry them out. Among the speakers, the presence of senior officials from three Ministries stands out: Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Finance and Public Function, and Territorial Policy. The event will take place both in person and online through the social networks of the Cabildo de Tenerife and has the collaboration of the Fundación Democracia y Gobierno Local. We wait for all of you there.
