The president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands and of the Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of the European Union (CALRE), Gustavo Matos, spoke this Wednesday at the 40th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, where he stressed the importance of reinforcing the basic principle of solidarity between the regions “in a Europe as a single space of coexistence”.
“We must see Europe as a single territory with a single citizenship, where that solidarity must continue to be one of the guidelines for identifying the European project,” he said in his speech, where he insisted that we will only be “stronger” and we will be “more united “If there is real solidarity between territories,” as the situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has come to demonstrate. “
The president defended that the recovery “reaches all people, all citizens and be guaranteed under conditions of equality, a task that also corresponds to European regions and entities, without which it will not be possible to defeat the pandemic.” He also highlighted the hope and optimism with which we face this new stage, “with which we move towards normality and recovery after the harsh impact of the pandemic on health and socioeconomic effects.”
“Most likely, neither Europe nor the world will go back to what they were before COVID-19, but I think we have learned to be able to appreciate what has made us strong in this crisis. We have also detected our weaknesses and we see that the solutions that the European institutions have put on the table have gone in the right direction, thereby recovering the trust of European citizens in their institutions, which was somewhat diminished after the last crisis where recipes they were others ”, he expressed.
Matos affirmed that the vaccination represents “a historic milestone” and appreciated that this process allows “the recovery of a certain normality, thereby increasing mobility by arbitrating solutions such as the COVID-19 certificate or the implementation of recovery funds. Regarding the funds, he affirmed that they are “giving hope to markets and governments, which are now more aware of the importance of maintaining good public services, especially in the health field.”
The president highlighted, on the other hand, the improvement in relations with the United States, “the opening of a new dialogue with the European project where everything is good news, such as the unblocking even of certain commercial tensions.” In this context, he said, “we move with optimism and hope.”
Matos defended the need to value what the role of the regions, local entities and all those administrations that are closer to the citizenry has meant in this year and a half, “not only because that proximity implies more proximity to the institutions, but because the day-to-day response to solve real problems comes mainly through local and regional entities ”.
He pointed out that these entities, “which have been effective and close in managing the pandemic, should be seen as an opportunity and also have a prominent role in times of recovery and in the management of the tools that are articulated for it. , especially because the assemblies and parliaments with the capacity to legislate represent no less than 200 million inhabitants ”.