The President of the Parliament of the Canary Islands and of the Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of the EU, Astrid Pérez, chaired this Thursday the first plenary session of the Assembly and the Standing Committee of the Calre in which she proposed the creation of a joint manifesto that includes the main demands of the regions in view of the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034.
In the words of Astrid Pérez, "we have already laid the foundations to work on a document that will reflect the priorities and concerns regarding the next budget of the European Union, with the intention of approving it in the next plenary session in July."
"The objective is for this joint message to be a powerful tool to dialogue with European institutions and ensure that the voice of our regions is heard in the decisions of the next Multiannual Financial Framework," said the President.
In the current framework of the European Union, the negotiation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 is being carried out. In this way, the European Commission plans to present its legislative proposal on it at the end of July 2025. That is why, for the regional parliaments, "it is essential that the budget of the European Union reflects a tangible commitment to the values of solidarity and territorial equity and that diversity is valued as one of the basic pillars," said Astrid Pérez.
The 69 regional parliaments of seven member states that make up the Calre will participate in the manifesto.
During the meeting held this Thursday, some regions have already expressed some of these demands, which include asking the EU for a sustainable and comprehensive approach to regional development, combining innovation, social inclusion, sustainability and distribution of wealth, especially in the Outermost Regions (ORs), for which a specific budget will be requested due to their limitations arising from their distance from the continent and which are reflected in Article 349 of the TFEU.
This document aims to be a common front that reflects the priorities and concerns where each regional perspective is represented.
The first contributions highlight aspects that have to do with the primary sector, connectivity and transport or migration. Precisely, during the Assembly this Thursday, the Calre working groups have been presented in which the Canary Islands has shown its willingness to continue leading the migration policy group.
