The Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions (CPOR), which includes the President of the Regional Government, Vasco Cordeiro, has sent the President of the European Council, the President of France, the Prime Minister of Portugal and the President of the Spanish Government a political statement addressed at the European Council taking place next Thursday and Friday in Brussels to discuss the next European funding framework for 2014-2020.

The Presidents of the ORs defend that "the latest proposals of the Extraordinary European Council, which met on November 23, 2012, are inappropriate and insufficient for Outermost Regions." They have considered that these proposals "jeopardise the right to difference and they are not adapted to the reality of outermost regions, thus ignoring their statute embodied in the Treaty of Lisbon."

In this context, the Outermost Regions also remind that EU action "is an important lever for the economic, social and territorial development" of the ORs. Moreover, they recall that article 349 of the Treaty of Lisbon "provides differentiated treatment for Outermost Regions, entitling them to a special and holistic treatment that is line with the concept territorial cohesion that underlies European integration."

Therefore, the Conference of Outermost Regions urges the European Council, in the context of the financial framework for 214-2020, to ensure” a fair and equal treatment to all ORs, integrating all policies , the maintenance of the financial resources allocated under the framework for 2007-2013 and the full implementation of article 349 of the Treaty of Lisbon."