Vice-President Pere Aragonès, Foreign Minister Bernat Solé, and Catalonia’s Delegate to the EU Meritxell Serret send a letter to European officials to vindicate the role of the regions in overcoming the crisis

Catalonia’s Vice-President and Minister of Economy & Finance Pere Aragonès, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations & Transparency Bernat Solé, lead an initiative to vindicate the role of the regions in the European post-Covid recovery plan. The government’s Delegate to the European Union Meritxell Serret has brought together Catalonia’s government and 23 other territories from 9 member states to sign a letter addressed to several European bodies demanding “to be included in the design and implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and in the national recovery plans that are adopted with this fund.”

At the presentation of the initiative, Mr Aragonés said that our administrations have “the strength, capacity and determination to participate directly in the recovery of our countries and the Union as a whole.” The Vice-President pointed out that it is the territories that “are closest to the citizens” that have directly managed the pandemic and its social and economic consequences. In this regard, he claimed that “it is essential that these be an active part in the design and implementation of the European Recovery and Resilience Facility.” “The solutions will not come with decisions that are adopted only from the member states’ point of view.” Mr Aragonés concluded that “post-COVID Europe must be one of prosperity, rights and freedoms, where the peoples and the nations like Catalonia have their own voice.”

It is another step towards advancing European integration just when it is most needed

Meritxell Serret Catalonia’s Agriculture Minister in Exile

For his part, Mr Solé vindicated the initiative as the “evidence of the lead Catalonia wishes to show in Europe,” and insisted on the need for the territories to have “their own voice” and contribute to equal opportunities for all the citizens of Europe so no one is left behind,” as defended by Agenda 2030.

Catalonia’s Agriculture Minister in Exile Meritxell Serret, who currently holds the post of Government Delegate to the European Union, also took part in the presentation stating that the letter “is another step towards advancing European integration just when it is most needed,” and defined it as an
“alliance among territories that advocate a way out of the Covid19 crisis through a stronger Europe.”

The letter is addressed among others to the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, and leaders such as Angela Merkel, António Costa and Janez Jansa. Among the signees are the President of Valencia Ximo Puig, the President of Occitania Carole Delga, and the Basque President, Iñigo Urkullu.