Euroregion backs the Balearics in securing special island status

THE Balearic government secured yesterday the support of its Euroregion associates in applying for recognition of the Islands as a cross-border territory. Such acknowledgement would mean that the fact that the Balearics are distanced from the mainland of Spain should not be allowed to interfere with the region's development. Government sources said that the support was confirmed yesterday in Palma at a meeting of leaders representing the Pyrenees/Mediterranean Euroregion, from the Balearics, Catalonia, Aragon, and the Frech regions of Midi Pyrenees and Languedoc-Rosellon. Specifically, the Euroregion associates supported the Balearic government in their demand that on issues of maritime transport, the criteria of distance when defining a region as cross-border, should disappear. “DISADVANTAGED” Similarly, the associates agreed that special treatment should be given to territories which were “economically disadvantaged” by their geographical isolation. Such treatment would help disadvantaged territories compete on equal terms with others.
Separately, the associates have agreed to hold a conference in Palma on 10 and 11 November this year, to bring together 42 Chambers of Commerce from the Euroregion at the invitation of Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
It is hoped such a meeting will further foreign trade.