The Regional Government of the Azores has conveyed its satisfaction with the approval in Brussels of the Competitive Council on the priorities for Relaunching the Single Market, which includes a reference to the Outermost Regions of the European Union.
 
In the text, approved by the 27 Member States on Monday, the Council “underlines the crucial role of internal market in delivering growth and employment and promoting competitiveness points out the need for ambitious steps to be taken to achieve a genuine and fully-fledged Single Market and a clear and coherent competitiveness strategy throughout the different EU policies and regions, including the outermost regions.” The Council has also considered that “actions should be taken on the basis of strategic priorities where the benefits to citizens, consumers and businesses, in particular small and medium-size enterprises and micro-enterprises.”

The inclusion of ORs in this document is the result of a continuous work carried out by these regions to raise awareness for their specific reality and status in the European context and, particularly, of the Regional Government, through the Regional Advisor of the Azores at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to European Union and the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
One should remind that the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Michel Barnier, has recently proposed, taking into account the specificities of the ORs, the drafting of a report on the Outermost Regions and on the Internal Market. Under the drafting process of that document, the Special Adviser of the European Commission, Pedro Solbes, visited the Region last April to hold meetings and establish several contacts in an agenda prepared by the Government of the Azores in conjunction with the European Commission.

The Internal Market is a key element in the process of European integration, developed on the basis of the four freedoms of movement (people, goods, services and capital), boosted by the consolidation of economic integration, the creation of the single currency and the development of the EU cohesion policy.