EURegionsWeek 2021

Sardinia Region's EU Liaison Office - as lead partner of the Peripheral Mediterranean islands’ Regional partnership composed of Sardinia, Corsica, Balearic Islands, Gozo, Crete and Ionian islands - organised a high-level political conference under the framework of the 2021’s edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The event, entitled “Peripheral island regions' challenges in post-Covid recovery”, took place both online and in the headquarters of Committee of the Regions, in Brussels on Thursday 14 October 2021.

The event focused on the challenges of EU peripheral islands and on possible scenarios to foster recovery and economic convergence processes with other European regions.

The following, high-level political figures of the regional Peripheral Mediterranean islands’ Regional partnership participated in the event:
- Mr Christian Solinas, President of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, CoR Member (Italy);
- Ms Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Corsican Assembly, CoR Member (France);
- Mr George Alexakis, Regional Councillor for European & International Affairs of the Region of Crete (Greece);
- Mr Konstantinos Kapodistrias, Vice Governor of the Ionian Islands Region (Greece);
- Ms Begoña Morey, Secretary General of the Regional Ministry of Finance and External Relations of the Balearic Islands Government (Spain);
- Mr Mario Saliba, Director of the Policy Development and Program Implementation Directorate, within the Ministry for Gozo in the Government of Malta (Malta).

The above-mentioned political representatives of the Peripheral Mediterranean islands called upon the European Union and the Member States to take into consideration the specific issues and needs of island regions.

Several high-ranking representatives of the European institutions actively contributed to the debate remarking challenges and difficulties of island regions on the grounds of their territorial discontinuity and peripheral position from the mainland, including:
- Mr Tonino Picula, chair of SEARICA (Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas) Intergroup in the European Parliament (Croatia);
- Ms Josianne Cutajar, member of the European Parliament and shadow rapporteur of the European Parliament’s own-initiative report on insularity (Malta).
- Ms Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs – EMPL (Spain);

The debate clearly stressed that EU policies and measures need be tailored to specific territorial challenges and diverse contexts, avoiding the traditional one-size fits all approach, in order encompass specific islands-focused priorities and preventing the existing inequalities of treatment in EU regions.

The event was characterised by high attendance with more than 120 registered participants, including members of the European Parliament, members of the Committee of the Regions, high-level representatives of the European Commission, political and technical representatives of island local and regional authorities, civil society representatives.

For more information concerning the conference, please visit the webpages dedicated to the event in the online platform of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2021:
Event's webpage;
Session summary;

The complete recording of the event can be found at the following link:
Replay;