– GOVERNMENT OF CANARY ISLANDS – Archive
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 5 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ministry of Public Works, Housing, and Mobility of the Canary Islands Government has called on the State to ensure a specific representation for the insular territories in the Technical Commission responsible for drafting the preliminary project of the Document of Guidelines for Sustainable Mobility (DOMOS).
In a statement, the Canary Islands Government emphasised that it is “essential” for the future commission to incorporate mechanisms that guarantee effective participation from both the Canary Islands and territories with unique structural characteristics, considering the particularities arising from the archipelagic and ultra-peripheral status of the islands.
The Director General of Transport, María Fernández, explained that the DOMOS is intended to become the “reference framework” for sustainable transport and mobility planning and management across the entire national territory, directly impacting state aid policies, large infrastructure planning, and decarbonisation processes. Thus, she underlined, the specific needs of insular territories “cannot be addressed using the same parameters as continental territories.”
CANARY ISLANDS’ UNIQUENESS
Among the observations submitted, the General Directorate requests that the future order provides a differentiated representation for the island and ultra-peripheral autonomous communities within the technical commission, ensuring that this representation includes profiles of technical specialists in the field.
Additionally, the document highlights the institutional peculiarities of the Canary Islands, reminding that the island councils hold their own responsibilities regarding transport programming, planning, and coordination. In this regard, it suggests that Canary Islands’ participation in the commission should take this administrative reality into account, incorporating the perspectives of the island councils in the DOMOS drafting process.
The Canary Islands Government also proposes that the future order establish specific consultation mechanisms for insular and ultra-peripheral territories before making decisions related to substantial transport infrastructure, technological incentives, or indicator systems impacting their connectivity and accessibility.
GREATER TRANSPARENCY
The observations submitted to the Ministry demand greater transparency in the operation of the technical commission. It advocates for the content index of the DOMOS to be discussed in advance by all its members and for contributions made by various administrations to be formally documented and justified.
“The Directorate General for Transport and Mobility also considers it necessary for the commission’s operational regime to guarantee equal access to working documents, allow for the contribution of information and data from participating administrations, and consider the inclusion of specialists in sustainable mobility when required,” she added.
The regional government has reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating in the development of the Document of Guidelines for Sustainable Mobility, arguing that state mobility policies effectively incorporate the territorial diversity and specific needs of insular and ultra-peripheral territories.
