Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, Nov. 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The head of the regional government of the Portuguese Azores Islands, José Manuel Bolieiro, will be in Brussels next week to participate in two meetings considered "decisive" for the future of the Outermost Regions, the executive announced on Friday.
According to a statement from the Azorean coalition government of PSD/CDS-PP/PPM, José Manuel Boleiro is travelling to Brussels "at a time marked by deep concerns about the European Commission's proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework".
The trip "follows several recent speeches by the leader of the Azorean executive, who has publicly reaffirmed the need for a European policy more tailored to the specificities of island regions, firmly advocating the maintenance and strengthening of instruments that guarantee territorial cohesion," the statement said.
The leader of the Azores regional government will participate on Tuesday in the High-Level Outermost Regions Forum, which brings together European commissioners, institutional leaders and presidents of the Outermost Regions, and on the previous day he will attend the celebration of the 30th year of the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions (CPRUP).
At the High-Level Outermost Regions Forum, Bolieiro will present his position on the future "Outermost Regions Package".
"The head of the regional government of the Azores is expected to insist on the need for the next Multiannual Financial Framework to incorporate measures that protect POSEI, a European Union (EU) support scheme for agriculture in the outermost regions, such as the Azores and Madeira. (The programme aims to guarantee the supply of essential products, reduce transport costs and support local agricultural production) Cohesion funds and support for agriculture and fisheries, areas he considers vital for the economic and social balance of the outermost regions," the note adds.
The session commemorating the 30th year of the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions will feature "moments of historical review and political reflection on three decades of affirmation of the Outermost Regions in the European arena".
The Azorean minister will take part in the round table dedicated to concerns about the future Multiannual Financial Framework, in a debate that will bring together other regional presidents and representatives of the member states of Portugal, France and Spain.
The Azorean executive hopes that the meeting will "reiterate that cohesion cannot be just a principle, it must translate into concrete measures that guarantee competitiveness, territorial continuity, protection of productive sectors and equal opportunities for citizens living in remote territories".
By participating in these two initiatives in Brussels, the head of the regional government of the Azores is reinforcing the strategy of affirming the region as "an active and influential voice in the European dialogue, insisting that the outermost regions are not neglected peripheries, but strategic assets of the Union, with unique environmental, maritime and geopolitical responsibilities".
"Next week in Brussels will thus be another step in advocating a European framework that recognises the uniqueness of the Azores and guarantees the necessary instruments for the sustainable development of the archipelago," he concluded.
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