Strasbourg – The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, warned this Tuesday against the possible centralization of the upcoming multiannual budgets of the European Union and urged that these accounts do not reduce the funds that compensate for the disadvantages faced by the outermost regions nor lose sight of their challenges.

“We are very concerned about the direction of this multiannual period and (…) that it is directed towards a single plan for each member state. This would imply that our condition as an outermost region would be diluted. We would be concerned that the priorities that should be included within the European Union are diverted towards the priorities of the member states,” Clavijo stated.

The Canary president is participating this Tuesday in the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions in Strasbourg (France), where the nine territories that make up this group have insisted on the challenges they face as the regions furthest from continental Europe – such as exposure to climate disasters or lack of infrastructure – and have demanded that the European Union, of which they are full members, not forget them.

“Canary Islands and the rest of the outermost regions do not recognize ourselves in this centralist vision. If something characterizes the EU, it is respect for identity, diversity, and solidarity,” he stated.

Clavijo emphasized that, although he may agree with the realignment of European priorities towards industry, security, and defense in a changing world, the reality in his territory is that there is not a sufficiently competitive research and scientific base nor an industrial base or a clear policy of relations with its neighbors.

“Our reality is very different. If this reality is not recognized and we are affected by the centralist policy of our member states, we would be doing ourselves a disservice,” said the Canary president, urging that the specific funds that compensate for their condition as an outermost region are not put at risk.

Therefore, he added, if changes in the budget occur to the detriment of cohesion funds, “we will be robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

The leader of the Canary Government also took advantage of the forum to warn about the complex migratory situation that the islands are experiencing, with figures of arrivals on the rise in recent years by people who “do not arrive in the Canary Islands or Spain, they arrive in Europe seeking the European dream.”

“There the reality is that Europe cannot leave all this in the hands of the member state. We feel alone and abandoned by a Europe that tells us it can do nothing, alone with a state that neither attends to nor understands us,” Clavijo lamented.

The conference also counted with the presence of the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who committed to working towards including the reality of the outermost regions in the EU debates, including the reform of the cohesion policy after 2027.

“This Parliament will fight for the outermost regions. We must ensure that the next cohesion policy maximizes the impact of funding in these regions,” Metsola said, acknowledging that the wealth, biodiversity, and youth that make these territories “so special” also leave them with challenges to be addressed.

In the same vein, Costa emphasized that what “distinguishes” the European Union is precisely “the convergence between democratic values, trust between member states, the welfare model, and the collective will for prosperity without exclusions and with full integration.”

“With all the regions on board, no matter how distant they are. Because in these disturbing and unpredictable times, unity is what makes us stronger,” he emphasized. (January 21)