The Diplomat
The State Secretary for the European Union, Juan González-Barba, has called for a new EU strategy for the outermost regions, with special attention to the Canary Islands, including areas of “urgent attention” such as tourism or irregular immigration.
González-Barba made this proposal last Monday in Coímbra (Portugal) on the occasion of his participation in the informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, the first of its kind since the beginning of the pandemic, during which the 27 ministers of European Affairs addressed the situation of the European outermost regions as “laboratories for the future”.
During his speech, the State Secretary described as “very timely” the review and updating of the EU Strategy for the Outermost Regions with the aim of adapting it to the “new circumstances”, since the previous strategy does not include areas that require “urgent attention” from the Union, such as tourism or irregular immigration. He also presented to his counterparts the case of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, as a pioneering island in circular economy initiatives, clean energy self-sufficiency and social support for sustainable economic models.
