The President of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Astrid Pérez, inaugurated this Wednesday the third edition of the Connect Canary Islands–Europe Conference, an event that this year commemorates "40 Years with Europe. A Look at the Past, a Commitment to the Future," bringing together MEPs, institutional representatives, experts, and companies to reflect on the role of the Canary Islands in European construction.
During her opening remarks, Pérez highlighted that "the Canary Islands are not the periphery of Europe, they are Europe in the Atlantic," underscoring the strategic nature of the Archipelago as an outermost region and its role as a "natural bridge between continents." The president recalled that "over these 40 years, Europe has been built not only with treaties, but with will, values, and a vision for the future," and defended the need to maintain the instruments that have allowed the Archipelago's growth on equal terms.
The President of Parliament emphasized the importance of the Outermost Region (OR) status, which she defined as "an act of territorial justice that compensates for the structural disadvantages derived from remoteness and island fragmentation." In her speech, she warned about the migratory pressure facing the Canary Islands and demanded that "the governance of the migratory phenomenon must include border and outermost regions as direct interlocutors," referring to the recent Supreme Court ruling on the guardianship of migrant minors.Pérez also defended the continuity and updating of the POSEI program, which he described as "a tool that sustains thousands of jobs and preserves our agricultural and livestock traditions."The president also celebrated the recent manifesto approved by CALRE under the presidency of the Canary Islands, which consolidates the voice of the regions before the future Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034. "Territorial cohesion is not only a fundamental principle, but an imperative necessity for the progress of Europe," she stated
The sessions, held at the Parliament's headquarters, were attended by the Vice-Minister of Economy and Internationalization of the Government of the Canary Islands, Gustavo González de Vega; the former MEP and president of the Canary Council of the European Movement, Manuel Medina Ortega; MEPs Juan Fernando López Aguilar and Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez; and the Vice-Minister of the Presidency and president of PROEXCA, Alfonso Cabello.
In addition, a panel of Canarian exporting companies was held, under the title "The Canarian Footprint in Europe: Business Success Stories," and a debate panel with parliamentary groups focused on "The Parliament of the Canary Islands Facing Europe's Challenges."
