The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations reiterated today, in a letter sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MNE), the position of the Regional Government on the European Commission's proposals for the 2021/2027 Multiannual Financial Framework with a view to the Council European scheduled for July 17 and 18.

Rui Bettencourt stressed the Regional Government's “expectation” that the next Council meetings will lead to an agreement that will allow, without any delay, the entry into force of the Financial Framework for 2021/2027 on January 1, 2021 as well as the corresponding Operational Programmes. Moreover, there are also expectations regarding a “quick implementation” that will allow states and regions to immediately put into operation the necessary economic recovery measures, mitigating the social effects of the pandemic and contributing to development and progress.

In the letter sent to Augusto Santos Silva, the Regional Government advocated the maintenance of co-financing rates for the Outermost Regions at historical levels of 85%, “so as not to force an increase in their own effort, which would be even more damaging in the context of post-pandemic recovery.”

In turn, the Government mentions the need to increase the funding for the proposal on the “allocation of 30 euros 'per capita' to Outermost Regions," under the React EU initiative and its extension beyond 2020. This claim takes into consideration the enormous costs arising not only from the outermost situation of the Azores, but also from their geographical dispersion, which requires a very significant increase in order to maintain social, territorial and economic cohesion among the nine islands."

This letter also mentions the importance of “maintaining the mechanisms and even the increase of the corresponding financial envelopes of the ERDF Overhead Allocation and the new ESF Overhead Allocation.” Furthermore, the Government defends the “imperative positive discrimination of Outermost Regions in the context of the proposed increase in the EAFRD allocation under the Recovery Fund” and the “recognition of the importance of the POSEI programme through the increase, in comparison with the current programming period, of the funds allocated to it."

The Secretary for External Relations also defends, in this letter, the need to “improve accessibility, the mobility of the population and the transport of goods.”

The Regional Government stressed the importance of “safeguarding that important sectors for the regional economy such as tourism and transport have the necessary means to mitigate the grievous impact of the pandemic in the new Financial Framework and Recovery Fund, thus becoming more resilient and wealth-generating sectors.

The letter sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which reiterates, once again, the position defended by the Regional Government at several levels, also "acknowledges the fact the Commission's proposals are bold, ambitious and innovative."