BRUSSELS, Nov. 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, will assume this Wednesday, November 16, the Presidency of the Confederation of Presidents of the Ultraperipheral Regions (RUP) and will do so at a time when issues such as the condition of the tax will have to be addressed to kerosene or the demand for a distribution of the migration of adults and minors who arrive at the border territories of Europe.
This was stated at the press conference after the signing of the Final Declaration of the RUP Conference of Presidents, in which he informed that a common agreement had been unanimously and consensually approved, highlighting this as the “great strength” of the ORs, since the agreements “end up being unanimous and with important challenges” for the future.
In this sense, he pointed out that the Canary Islands will assume the Presidency of the ORs, after the “magnificent work” of Martinique, and where there is “a long way to go” hand in hand with the rest of the Outermost Regions in the European 2014-2020 time frame for have the “possibility of extension to be able to materialize all” the funds, as well as in the one established for 2021-2027 with the multi-year plans, in addition to “improving in key sectors”, among which he cited the primary, fishing and environment, where he highlighted the “clear commitment of the ORs to sustainability”.
On sustainability, he added, that also in the social framework because it is necessary to “give the greatest resources to those who need the most.”
Likewise, within the framework of migration policy, he indicated that the ORs defend an asylum pact that “is fair to the territory of those who receive the migratory phenomenon”, for which he considers it necessary for the European Union to understand that the Outermost Regions They are remote territories and they have to have “logically a certain deal” with the ORs because otherwise “it would lead them to greater poverty and uncertainty.”
For this reason, Torres has stressed the “mandatory co-responsibility” of the rest of the member states, since by way of example he stated that in the case of the Canary Islands he has to undertake “all” the expenses of minors who arrive in the community because in Spain is an autonomous jurisdiction, although it understands that the law should be updated, since it was made for “minors born in the territories and not” for those who come through the migratory phenomenon.
In this sense, they also request the regionalization of European funds so that they go to the territories that receive minors, since the “mainly weight” falls on the border territories, stating that among the ORs “there are several territories that are migratory borders ” and they are “EU in its broadest extension”, in such a way that he stressed that when “a migrant arrives in an OR of Europe, he is arriving in Europe”, hence he urged redistribution with all member states.
On the other hand, with regard to the kerosene tax on maritime and air transport by Europe, he has admitted that they have to “be vigilant”, since they have obtained exemption for inter-island flights and with the State. However, he pointed out that the ORs defend that it be extended to international flights.
“We have to fight it, in the same way that the commitment of the ORs with the environment is unquestionable,” he pointed out, giving an example that in the Canary Islands, homes that use solar energy have multiplied, “going from about 300 in 2019 to more than 5,000”, for which he stressed that the commitment of the ORs to the green transformation that the EU marks “is not incompatible with not imposing taxes to be able to reach the ORs because it can only be done by plane or by boat”, since they have “more limitations”.
