The President of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens (PP), recognized in the European Parliament the “great dependence» from the Balearic Islands tourism sectorsince it represents more than 85% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the archipelago. For this reason, he demanded that the European Union (EU) relax the limits of state aid, a de minimis rule, to promote new productive sectors and a reindustrialization of the Islands.
The leader of the Regional Executive indicated that this is a demand that can be extended to all European island regionssince they share “challenges” and “needs” typical of their idiosyncrasy. “The islands have some obvious needs which the European institutions have not always taken into account”, he maintained.
Indeed, Prohens stressed that if there is a specific regime and measures for these outermost island regions, “the same sensitivity does not exist for other island regions” and stressed that even if they are further from the continent, “insularity is a differential fact this needs to be taken into account.
Furthermore, the manager popular He explained to the participants business model transformation process which began in the Balearic Islands, through a participatory process and a table with more than a hundred political representatives from the economic, economic, trade union and civil society sectors to reach an agreement on economic, social and environmental sustainability.
De minimis rules
Regarding de minimis rules, he highlighted that the European Parliament has already approved a resolution recognizing insularity as a “permanent structural disadvantage» and the “additional costs that this represents for the import and export of goods”.
“It is estimated that the additional transport cost due to insularity in the case of the Balearic Islands is between 74 and 100 percent compared to the continentmaking it more expensive to source raw materials, intermediate investments and consumer goods, as well as agricultural and industrial exports, and making it impossible for businesses to compete on a level playing field in the EU single market “, he defended.
Prohens stressed that the Balearic Islands do not want “competitive advantages”, but rather “compete on an equal footing” with the rest of European territories.
Although he appreciated that the regulation on de minimis aid was amended last year, to extend its limit from 200,000 to 300,000 euros, he stressed that the maximum amount of state aid that companies can receive is totally “insufficient for island regions”.
This is why he asked that in this new European legislature “the unique character of the islands” be clarified and that this “window of opportunity” be taken advantage of for a new modification.
Thus, he asked to move towards a “specific regime” for the EU islands in the application of the de minimis regulation, which allows “the extension of the general rule or the raising of the threshold to compensate for insularity and the additional costs arising from this differential fact.”
