Juan Jesús Rodríguez Marichal, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Fuerteventura; Isaac Ojea Jiménez, Policy Officer for European Water Policies and Legislation at DG ENVI; Pilar Ruiz Huélamo, Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce Delegation to the EU; Cristina Dominguez Beautell, Delegate of the Government of the Canary Islands in Brussels; José Valle Martínez, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa; Keka Torres-de Paz, Deputy Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce Delegation to the EU; and Ana Ortiz de Lanzagorta González, European Affairs Specialist of the Canary Islands Delegation to the EU.
Brussels, 07/02/2024.-June 25th and 26th, in a mission coordinated by the Delegation to the EU, the Chambers of Commerce of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, represented by their presidents José Valle Martínez and Juan Jesús Rodríguez Marichal, respectively, gathered with key Brussels personalities to discuss the needs and opportunities of the islands in essential sectors such as water management and connectivity.
Several meetings were celebrated, starting with an informative breakfast organized by Fórum Europa Brussels, where Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age and European Commissioner for Competition, highlighted the progress of European digitalization policy compared to other powers like China or the USA.
This was followed by a meeting on European water management policy with Isaac Ojea Jiménez, policy officer of European water policies and legislation at DG ENVI, where they discussed the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the main regulations affecting the islands. Special mention was made of the common implementation strategy for the WFD, which aims to ensure the harmonious and coherent implementation of the WFD and its daughter directives.
In another meeting, they learned about the advances related to the EU Blue Deal, thanks to Gerardo Arroyo Herránz, a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). During this meeting, they talked about specific initiatives and proposals under this initiative and how they can contribute to it.
The mission concluded with a discussion on the future of connectivity in outermost regions with Miguel González-Sancho, Head of Unit at DG CONNECT, where they talked about European funding opportunities for projects related to improving connectivity for the Canary Islands. Special mention was made of Cluster 4 of the Horizon Europe Program, the Digital Europe Program, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), and the European Security Fund.