Reinforced dialogue between the Government of the Canary Islands and the European Commission

Under the new EU Strategy for the Outermost Regions (OR), of May 2022, the European Commission is committed to strengthen dialogue with these regions in order to better understand their concerns and increase visibility of EU policies. Accordingly, Commissioner Elisa FERREIRA has called for bilateral dialogues with each of the ORs to find out their strategic priorities, medium-term objectives and main concerns regarding European policies.

In this context and following such request, the Government of the Canary Islands has organised a Reinforced dialogue with the European Commission this Monday, 6 March 2023, divided into two separate sections:

  • A first political meeting between regional President and Ministers of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Commission Director in charge of the ORs, Monika HENCSEY, during which the Commission strategy was presented and a dialogue on its main elements and challenges to be addressed in the future by this government was held.
  • A second technical and sectoral meeting, in which some regional deputy ministers had the opportunity to raise their main concerns, difficulties and expectations regarding the EU legal framework in the near future.

Both meetings have enabled the Commission to gather relevant information about the Canary Islands, which will be useful in preparing possible responses by Commissioner FERREIRA at the Conference of Presidents, which will conclude the Canary Islands’ Presidency of the ORPC (Outermost Region President Conference) to be held in the Canary Islands this year in November.