Funchal mayor presses case for EU funding and stronger municipal role
Madeira GuideThe visit focused on municipal access to EU funds and the role of regions and municipalities in the European Union.
Jorge Carvalho met Younous Omarjee, vice-president of the European Parliament, at Funchal City Hall yesterday. Omarjee led an official visit to Madeira by a delegation of 10 MEPs from the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development (REGI). Carlos Rodrigues, vice-president of Funchal City Council, also attended.
The delegation met the main political institutions of the region and archipelago. The role of regions and municipalities in building the European Union, and the need for adequate EU funding for outermost regions, were discussed.
Carvalho stressed the importance of municipalities having access to EU funds in an insular and outermost territory such as Madeira. He presented projects completed or under implementation in Funchal and said European funding was decisive for their execution and for creating responses for the population.
The mayor defended a "Europe of the Regions" in which municipalities have a more relevant role, rather than a European Union excessively centred on states. The discussion took place as European institutions prepare future EU priorities and funding instruments with direct impact on regions with greater structural constraints, including outermost regions.
Carvalho and Omarjee had previous contacts related to European policies for outermost regions. Omarjee is from Réunion, also an outermost region. Carvalho previously took part in meetings of the outermost regions as regional secretary for Education, representing Madeira.
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Madeira Guide
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