SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, begins three days of meetings in Brussels this Wednesday that aim to gain allies in the defense of the islands’ demands in the face of the migratory crisis and the effects on the archipelago of the entry into force January 1 of European transport taxes for CO2 emissions.
In total and until next Friday, the head of the autonomous Government will hold ten top-level meetings in the European capital, meetings that cover two different but important fronts for the negotiations in Brussels: that of the legislative power and that of the executive power of the Union. European.
Regarding the first, Clavijo seeks to obtain the support of the majority of the European Parliament for the European Commission to apply in the Canary Islands in immigration matters the same roadmap approved for the island of Lampedusa and for an exception to the application in the ORs of the so-called fees. green.
To achieve this, the president of the Canary Islands will meet these days with leaders of the three main political groups of the European Parliament: European People’s Party, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and Renew. Together they represent more than 60% of the legislative power of the EU, bringing together 458 MEPs of the 748 seats in the European Parliament.
The round of meetings with parliamentary groups opens this Wednesday with a meeting with the president of the Renew Europe group, Stépahne Séjourné, and with Adrián Vázquez Lázara, president of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament, after which Clavijo will intervene before all the members of this alliance that brings together the centrist political forces of the EU. He will also meet in the afternoon with the vice-president of this political group and member of the LIBE committee of the European Parliament, Malik Azmani.
Next, the president of the Canary Islands will hold a meeting with the president of the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Iratxe García Pérez, and with the Canarian MEP and president of the Commission on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). of the European Parliament, Juan Fernando López Aguilar.
Already on Thursday, Fernando Clavijo will convey the main demands of the Canary Islands regarding migration and CO2 emissions to the vice-president of the Group of the European People’s Party and President of the Petitions Committee (PETI) of the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat. She represents the main group of the European Chamber with 216 MEPs, 30% of the total.
KEY INTERLOCUTORS
Regarding the executive meetings, Fernando Clavijo lands in Brussels with an agenda that includes key interlocutors of the European Commission to address the migration crisis and the request for a moratorium on the application of emissions rights to air transport in the ORs. and maritime with countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Regarding migration, the president will close his stay in Brussels on Friday with a meeting with the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, to whom Fernando Clavijo will directly convey his requests so that the Canary Islands do not continue facing this migration crisis alone. He will arrive at this appointment with the endorsement of the declaration approved at the Conference of Presidents of the ORs held last week in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The agenda in Brussels also includes two meetings with senior officials of the European Commission with direct responsibility for the application of the ‘Goal 55′ package of measures. Specifically, he will meet with the Director of Aviation, Filip Cornelis, and with the head of the Maritime Transport and Logistics unit in the Directorate General of Mobility and Transport in the European Commission, Annika Kroon, an appointment that will also be attended by the Head of the sustainable energy sector team and responsible for the ReFuel Aviation Regulation, Ewa ONEY. Also on Thursday, the president of the Canary Islands will convey the Canary Islands’ demands to the director of Carbon Markets and Clean Mobility in the Directorate General for Climate Action in the European Commission, Beatriz Yordi.
The specific objective of these two meetings is for Brussels to allow an exemption from the application of emission rates to international flights and polluting ships to the outermost regions, at least during the period 2024-2027. The Canary Islands have managed to be exempt from paying these taxes with the peninsula until 2030, but not from paying taxes on maritime and air transport that pollute with the EU and the United Kingdom, a measure that will come into force on January 1 if an agreement is not achieved. moratorium.
Finally, the head of the Executive will take advantage of his trip to Brussels to meet with the ambassador of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union, Marcos Alonso, a meeting in which he will be accompanied by the RUP advisor, José Ramón Funes. Also to seek allies in immigration matters and exceptions in green taxes, Clavijo will meet in the European capital with the ambassador-permanent representative of Portugal to the EU, Pedro Manuel Carqueijeiro, who will be accompanied by the Regional Policy Minister, Marco Dinis, and the affairs advisor for Madeira, Rui Texeira.
