‘We agreed to work together to make our companies competitive and to ensure that our citizens receive quality public services’, said Minister Lafuente after the key meeting held in the Azores.

Taking advantage of the framework of the General Assembly of the CPMR Islands Commission, held these days in the Azores, representatives of the Balearic Islands and Corsica met to address the common challenges affecting both island regions of the Mediterranean.

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The Balearic Islands and Corsica

The meeting was attended by Juan Manuel Lafuente, Minister for the Sea and the Water Cycle of the Balearic Islands Government; Francesca Ramis, Director General for Institutional Relations and Relations with Parliament, and Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Corsican Assembly and Member of the Committee of the Regions.

One of the key issues discussed was the European Union’s de minimis rule, which sets a limit of 300,000 euros on the aid that companies can receive. This limit discriminates against island companies, which face high freight transport costs due to their geographical location, as the transport aid they receive counts towards the EU’s aid ceiling.

‘It is unfair that the current limit prevents adequate compensation for the extra costs arising from insularity, reducing the competitiveness of local businesses and limiting their access to other essential subsidies,’ said Minister Lafuente.

The issue of unequal access to basic services and social rights was also addressed, where insularity discriminates against citizens in comparison with their compatriots on the mainland. Lafuente, Ramis and Maupertuis reiterated the need to promote solidarity between the islands and to promote policies that guarantee that essential public services are covered on an equal footing with mainland citizens. Civil servants do not have an insularity allowance to make it attractive to live on the islands, public services are not covered.

‘The meeting has been extremely fruitful and has allowed us to share and deepen the specific challenges we face as islands in the Mediterranean. We are committed to staying in touch and working together to advocate for solutions that will enable our regions to reach a level of competitiveness on a par with the mainland. It is vital that the European Union recognises and adapts to the particularities of the non-outermost island regions,’ said Minister Lafuente.

This meeting has strengthened the ties between the Balearic Islands and Corsica and has laid the foundations for future collaboration to face and overcome the economic and social challenges that impact the European island regions.