The Diplomat
The ambassador of Portugal in Spain, Joao Mira-Gomes, assured yesterday that the shared management of COVID-19 within the EU has been “a success” and highlighted, in this sense, the cooperation between Spain and Portugal, “the only two European countries that have always taken decisions in common and in a coordinated manner in the management of the border”.
“I have no better solution to deal with COVID than cooperation between countries” and, in this sense, the EU’s commitment to cooperation between Member States in the fight against the pandemic has been a “success”, said the ambassador during his speech at NEF Online, an informative meeting organized by New Economy Forum.
In the opinion of the Portuguese ambassador, the EU “is managing well” the fight against the pandemic in details such as the joint purchase of vaccines. “The decision to purchase vaccines jointly, managed by the European Commission, has been a good decision; one only has to think about what would have happened if each State had gone its own way”, he continued. Another example of European coordination is the recent agreement for the implementation of a health passport, “which is going to be very important to provide citizens with security when traveling”.
In this context, he said, the challenge of the pandemic has shown that relations between Spain and Portugal “are excellent”. “We have to underline the cooperation we have had during the pandemic, with complex border management”, he stressed. “We have been the only two European countries that have always taken decisions in common and in a coordinated manner in the management of the border”, he added.
In relation to European reconstruction funds, Mira-Gomes explained that the governments of the two countries are working to identify possible joint initiatives in energy, environment, infrastructure, digitalization and tourism. In his opinion, the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) could be a good scenario for developing synergies between the two states. “If we get to Brussels with joint projects, we will surely have more strength than separately, and we are very excited about achieving this”, he said.
Mira-Gomes also admitted that the current Portuguese Presidency of the EU has been “the most complex” his country has had to carry out so far, even more so than the first one, which took place in the midst of the crisis caused by the war in the Balkans. “The priority has been the economic recovery anchored in the green and digital transition, but for this we needed to control COVID” from the cooperation, added Mira-Gomes.
At the same meeting, the president of the Spanish-Portuguese Chamber and vice-president of the Repsol Foundation, António Calçada, said that when the health crisis is overcome thanks to the vaccination process, many opportunities will open up to improve business collaboration between Spanish and Portuguese companies, especially in five areas where they have great potential for cooperation: energy, infrastructure, tourism, textiles and industry in general. Likewise, both the businessman and the ambassador agreed that Spain and Portugal can become “Iberian champions” with the presence of their companies in regions where they have a great commercial experience, such as Latin America, Africa or Asia.
