— The director of the Brussels office of Fundación Galicia Europa, Ana Ramos, inaugurated the last meeting of the 2023 cycle ‘FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia’.

— In this new session organised by Fundación Galicia Europa, the key role of regional authorities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was discussed.

Brussels, 13th of December 2023. The director of the Brussels office of Fundación Galicia Europa, Ana Ramos, opened the eighth meeting of the year of the cycle ciclo “FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia”, the monthly debate between the Government of Galicia and the European institutions. This last meeting of 2023 focused on the regions’ commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an action plan with 17 goals and 169 targets that addresses issues such as poverty, health, education or climate.

Ana Ramos underlined the importance of the regional dimension of the SDGs, also known as localisation, as it is the regions that have the most accurate information to monitor the Goals, while being able to articulate development strategies that are more closely linked to citizens. The Director also recalled that, although the achievement of 65% of the SDGs will depend on the contributions of local and regional authorities, their localisation will face a number of challenges, such as the lack of coordination between the different levels of governance and, in particular, the lack of sufficient financial resources.

The session included the participation of Laia Pinós Mataró, xefa adxunta de unidade na Secretaría Xeral da Comisión Europea, Head of Unit at the Secretariat General of the European Commission, who illustrated European Union’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, as evidenced last July with the presentation to the United Nations of its first voluntary review of the implementation of the goals.

The Galician perspective was offered by Isaac Gómez Piñeiro, Deputy Director General of Meteorology and Climate Change, who is responsible for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Galicia. Our region has an interdepartmental commission to monitor the SDGs, as well as important initiatives such as the Galician Climate Alliance, a coordination office for the Covenant of Mayors and a future Climate Law.

Online meetings between Xunta de Galicia and the European institutions

The cycle of meetings ‘FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia’ brings together the Xunta de Galicia with representatives of the European institutions on a monthly basis to jointly address the policies promoted by the EU. Organised by Fundación Galicia Europa since September 2020, it fosters the debate on a multitude of issues on the EU agenda, such as the Industrial Strategy for Europe, the Green Deal or the European Digital Agenda.