Rui Bettencourt advocates strengthening of regions' contribution to the future of post-pandemic Europe
The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations defended today that the rebirth of the European Union involves greater solidarity between Member States and the revival of the Europe of Regions.
"The Azores defend that there are two issues, i.e., two new realities that the pandemic has revealed," said Rui Bettencourt, who spoke at the end of a meeting of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs of the Committee of the Regions, where he participated by video conference.
"The pandemic has had a social, economic and health impact across Europe and, accordingly, there has been a need for greater cooperation and greater solidarity across Europe," said the government official. According to him, this leads to what the European project is and its cornerstone: “the need for 27 states to show their solidarity in the face of the negative impacts that this pandemic is having and will have for some time.”
For the Secretary for External Relations, “another important point that was revealed by this pandemic and that should influence the future of Europe is the need to retake the Europe of Regions and the regional dimension as a dimension of significant relevance and closeness ”to address this impact as well as the health, economic and social issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have seen that solidarity between States is fundamental for this new revival of the European Union and the proximity that Regions bring, that is, the involvement of the regions in building the Europe of the future," stressed the Secretary Regional.
Rui Bettencourt also stressed the fact that there are 27 solidarity states and about 300 active regions, “bringing proximity in governance and in the resolution of health, economic and social problems arising from this pandemic."
The meeting of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs of the Committee of the Regions also addressed several topics and several issues of European relevance, namely the digital presence in a new democracy and the issue of subsidiarity. The debate focused on the future of Europe, which would be addressed at a conference scheduled for May 9. The event was cancelled at the time, but it will be rescheduled in due time.