Rui Bettencourt highlights widespread movement in support of Cohesion Policy and Outermost Regions
The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations highlighted in Saint-Martin the increasingly widespread movement in support of the Cohesion Policy and the Outermost Regions.
Rui Bettencourt spoke at the Partnership Session of the 24th Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions (CPOR), considering that this is “something new” in the history of Outermost Regions.
"At this stage in history, it is extremely important that they understand that we have to finance our development and that our development is part of the cohesion of the European Union as a whole," said the government official. According to him, this fundamental cohesion should involve Outermost Regions as they are “a huge asset for the European Union.”
The Secretary for External Relations stressed the potential of Outermost Regions, “which represent enormous asset in terms of world projection, in terms of oceanic dimension, and also in terms of geostrategic and geoeconomic position.”
In his speech, the Regional Secretary stressed, once again, the fact that the nine Outermost Regions are “deeply mobilised, deeply united and deeply active.”
"We are here ready, prepared and with the ambition to be part of the history of the EU with this global and oceanic dimension that we can bring," Rui Bettencourt said, noting that they are aware of what they have to do.
“It is necessary to understand that we are all involved here. It is necessary to understand that we have the desire to be part of the EU and to be part of the construction of Europe in this new phase of its history,” the government official said, stressing the need for a greater understanding of what the Outermost Regions represent.
The partnership session, besides the speeches by the presidents and representatives of the nine Outermost Regions, also featured a video presentation by Commissioner Elisa Ferreira and representatives of the Commission and the European Parliament and of the three Member States of the Outermost Regions: France, Spain and Portugal. The event was also attended by Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias.
At the end of the conference, the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Martin will pass the presidency of CPOR to Mayotte, a French overseas department that became an Outermost Region in 2014 and that will chair the CPOR for the first time.