The President of Foment, Josep Sànchez Llibre, has asked the European Commission to activate the European Solidarity Fund in the face of the drought experienced in several regions of the Twenty-seven, among which Catalonia stands out. Furthermore, he believes that aid should not only focus on agriculture, but also on the entire industrial fabric, so that in the event of an emergency “all economic sectors can benefit.”
“There is no common water policy,” lamented Sànchez Llibre after several days of meetings in Brussels with representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission. For this reason, he believes that the European Solidarity Fund can be expanded and that “in case of emergency, it can reach all economic sectors and be more transversal,” he assured. Aid that is activated in emergency cases such as natural disasters, fires and droughts, and that was expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the Catalan employers' association, one of the biggest problems that Catalonia has is the drought and its consequences. His proposal has been conveyed to several parliamentary groups and representatives of the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission and, in his opinion, has been “well received.”
Likewise, Foment considers that for the next legislature, which will begin after the elections to the European Parliament, a common water policy will be created, as already exists with the agricultural policy, and with a specific portfolio for it in the next European Commission, as The impact of the climate crisis is increasingly evident.
The President of Foment has also invited the newly elected special envoy for Pimes, Markus Pieper, MEP since 2004 of the German CDU party, and new advisor to the President of the Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, to meet with the Catalan employers' association and they can convey their concerns to you. Specifically, improving the competitiveness of SMEs, greater access to financing and their internationalization.
Sànchez Llibre has also expressed his concern regarding the letter of formal notice sent three years ago by the European Commission to the Spanish government due to the lack of protection of the ecosystems of the Llobregat delta by the competent administrations, and which has not received a response. An issue that directly affects the Generalitat, because it has the powers, but also the State, which has carried out large public works in the area in recent years, but without respecting compensation measures.
In this sense, Foment has presented a series of proposals, such as the anticipation of compensation measures to substantially reduce the future impact of new habitats and the improvement of already protected spaces with new renaturalization measures. With this, “sanctions that would prevent the expansion of the Barcelona airport could be avoided,” added Sànchez Llibre, and which the employers' association considers essential.
Finally, with the Hard Rock project complicating the negotiations of the Catalan Budgets, with the manifest opposition of the Comuns, Sànchez Llibre has insisted that the project is “fundamental for the modernization of the tourist ecosystem of Tarragona”.
