The Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations conveyed in the city of Alexandroupoli, Greece, the Azorean Government's satisfaction with the fact that the interests of Outermost Regions were "safeguarded" on the report issued by the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR) on state aid.

Rodrigo Oliveira stressed that in an area where "it is not always easy to find common positions defended by 160 regions that make up CPMR." The report adopted defends the "maintenance of, at least, the maximum aid intensity that is currently granted to Outermost Regions (ORs) as well as the additional support measures."

The Regional Under Secretary spoke at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPMR and the debate on the European Commission's project on guidelines for regional aid for 2014-2020. The government official defended that "the terms of article 349 of the Treaty of Lisbon provide differentiated treatment for Outermost Regions, which means, in this regard, that the specific measures they benefit under the current aid scheme should be maintained."

"In a context when economy clearly needs to be supported, this will not be certainly the time for any downward revision of the maximum aid intensity, regardless of its territorial application in Europe, whether in regard to continental regions, ORs or islands," added the government official.

Rodrigo Oliveira conveyed his satisfaction with report issued by the CPMR. The document defends the maintenance of maximum aid intensities and special attention to territories with specific constraints which goes against the initial position taken by the European Commission towards a clear tendency to decrease the amount of support.

"The constraints of ORs are structural and permanent, such as their small size, isolation and a fragmented market," said Rodrigo Oliveira. The Regional Under Secretary defended that the support mechanisms for 2014-2020 should maintain their intensity as they do not pose any problem or distortion of competition within the European internal market."