May 30th is marked on the calendar as the day we Canarians commemorate the first parliamentary session held in 1982 after the approval of the Statute of Autonomy. A day that has been fixed in the hearts of all those born here and also of all those who over the years have made this land their home.
During these days, there are festivities throughout the island in which our roots as a people are highlighted and our identity is valued. In a way, it is still a window to yesterday, a pause in our present to revel in our past.
And while we celebrate what we are, the European elections put us in tomorrow, in the future, in elections that are crucial for the Canary Islands. A cliché? Not at all if we take into
account that a large part of our funds and economic resources come from Europe and have a lot to do with the levels of competitiveness that the archipelago has achieved. In this
sense, the next legislature will be relevant for the islands as the negotiation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework is pending and it will be essential that the Canary Islands are well represented to maintain their access to these funds and increase the amount currently allocated to the Canary Islands. Our future depends on it.
To give you an idea, the different European financing lines help us to compensate for our condition as an outermost region and to pay for and cover public services
basic services, such as medical equipment, shopping basket or roads. They also bring us closer to Europe through the ERDF Funds (1,200 million euros), the POSEI (268 million euros), the Next Generation, the Funds of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (1,700 million euros) or the European Social Program, among others.
For the islands, the PP is a guarantee in the European Parliament because we are a strong group and the party that has defended the interests of the Canary Islands the most and the best in Europe throughout
these years. The closest example is the agricultural POSEI, whose financial sheet we have managed to save despite the fact that a drastic reduction was proposed.
All these programs are vital for our economy and quality of life, and their negotiation cannot be in charge of a Socialist Party that only puts obstacles and obstacles
to the primary sector, which does not defend our products against third countries and which wants to turn farmers into gardeners and ranchers into pet keepers. Nor can they be in charge of the nationalisms that support Sánchez and who, when it comes to defending, will do so for their own interests, as they have already done, even if that goes against the Canary Islands and the Canarians. And sincerely, I do not see the PNV (the party that leads the candidacy in which CC is integrated, as number two) defending in Brussels some of the challenges that we have ahead and that have to do specifically with the distance and the fact of being a fragmented territory separated from the peninsula and the continent.
I do not see the MEP of the PNV, who will arrive in Brussels alone thanks to the votes of CC, defending that the Canary Islands should be exempt from emission rights for
air transport beyond 2030, including not only inter-island flights and flights with the peninsula, but also connections with Europe. An aspect that is key for connectivity and the tourism sector that supports our economy.
It will also be unlikely to see the MEP of the PNV, thanks to the votes of CC, leading in Europe the creation of a POSEI for our fishing sector, something that the Partido Popular will certainly do with Gabriel Mato; an exceptional candidate who guarantees like no other the attention and permanent presence of the Canary Islands in Europe, as he has done all
these years in which he has always been there, at the foot of the canyon, to defend any proposal that benefits the archipelago.
In the same way, we cannot delegate in migratory matters where the presence of the Popular Party will be important when it comes to ensuring the Migration and Asylum Pact, whose
development we will be very aware of to guarantee that the Sánchez Government does not leave us alone again. And it is that while the Socialist Party looked the other way in the worst crisis experienced since 2006, the PP worked in Europe to get the best possible agreement for the Canary Islands. The first step has been taken but the European role must also be decisive in terms of border control and in the work that must be done in the countries of origin.
And like these, there are many other issues for which the Popular Party is your answer. From here I encourage you to participate in the electoral event on June 9 and to do so by voting for the PP. Proud of what we are, together we will build our future in Europe.
Happy Canary Islands Day to all.
