The Director-General of External Relations and with the European Union, Jesus Gamalo, has been invited today to participate in the sixth meeting of the Contact Group launched in 2020 between the European Commission for Regions (CdR) and British regions and municipalities. Among its goals, this group is trying to strengthen cooperation at the local level between the EU and the UK to make up for lost contacts due to Brexit. The meeting specifically addressed the difficulties in implementing the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom that entered into force at the beginning of last year.
“The specific problems that appear every day in the regions, as in the case of fishing, can only be solved with detailed knowledge on the ground, so the regions must have the appropriate channels to participate in the implementation of the EU-UK agreement. Jesús Jamalo said. “The agreement does not provide for on a formal mechanism for subsidiary state entities to participate in monitoring their implementation despite being responsible, in many cases, for supporting the economic sectors that suffer the consequences.”
European and British representatives discussed the possibility of the House of Representatives being linked in some way to the recently created Parliamentary Assembly of the European Union and the United Kingdom, made up of 70 members of British and European Parliaments with the aim of making recommendations on decisions taken by the Assembly. The Council, the body that formally supervises the implementation of the agreement. Problems with fishing licences or a shortage in the supply of petrol or basic commodities in the UK were presented as examples of inadequate implementation of the agreement during 2021.
Examples of regional cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom
The host region, Wales, explained the difficulties it faces in implementing the EU-UK agreement and how it has launched a “cooperative agenda” thanks to which it has concluded many agreements with a good number of Europeans so as not to lose contact with the EU. Regions such as the “memorandum of understanding” signed with Galicia in 2018.
The representative of Galicia, for his part, noted the experience of cooperation that existed in the Atlantic region, especially in maritime issues, and how the ambition to create a holistic Atlantic region could strengthen relations in this geographical region.
The Atlantic Arc Committee, in which Galicia leads the Brexit operational group, is evaluating the possibility of supporting the Teth Education Mobility Programme, recently launched by Wells to replace Erasmus, in which the UK is no longer participating.
Contact Group between the European Committee of the Regions and the United Kingdom
In 2020, the EU Local and Regional Assembly launched a liaison group with UK regional and local authorities to ensure that political dialogue continues at this level after Brexit. Led by the president of the French region of Brittany, the group is made up of 12 members of the House of Representatives and representatives of municipal assemblies in the UK and the governments and parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the City Council of London and the Government of Gibraltar.
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