The Diplomat
The State Secretary for the European Union, Juan González Barba, and the Portuguese State Secretary for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarías, have held in Madrid the second meeting of the follow-up mechanism of the commitments made during the last XXXI Spanish-Portuguese Bilateral Summit, held in Guarda (Portugal) on October 10, 2020.
The meeting, which is a continuation of the first meeting of the follow-up mechanism held in Lisbon on December 4, 2020, took place this past Monday in a hybrid format. On the Spanish side, representatives of the Presidency of the Government and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Ecological Transition participated in person, while on the Portuguese side, members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Valuation of the Interior participated. Representatives of the ministerial departments that participated in the Guarda Summit intervened by telematic means.
During the meeting, the two sides stressed the will to renew the 1977 Friendship and Cooperation Treaty in order to reflect, “in all its breadth, the growing density and depth of bilateral relations,” according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry. They also stressed the need to promote the Common Cross-Border Development Strategy, “highlighting the progress made in such relevant aspects for two countries with excellent bilateral relations and a common border, such as those related to workers, students, infrastructure, energy or health aspects, among others”.
In addition, the two State Secretaries analyzed the recent Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the upcoming Spanish Presidency in 2023 and both delegations committed to “continue strengthening bilateral contacts at all levels in order to present substantial results at the next bilateral Spanish-Portuguese Summit”, to be held in the town of Trujillo, Cáceres, on October 28th. Extremadura has already hosted this bilateral meeting three times and Trujillo was the venue of the VIII edition, in 1991.
During the Guarda Summit, chaired by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, the two governments committed to identify “joint strategic projects” in areas such as the development of 5G, digitalization, hydrogen and batteries, “which could be included in the recovery plans of both countries and financed with the European Fund”.
They also addressed the development of common infrastructures, both rail and road, and presented the Common Cross-Border Development Strategy between Spain and Portugal, which establishes five strategic objectives: guaranteeing equal opportunities on both sides of the border, ensuring the adequate provision of basic services by taking advantage of resources, facilitating cross-border interaction, encouraging the development of new economic activities and business initiatives and favoring the fixation of population in cross-border areas especially affected by depopulation.
