— The Director of the Galicia Europa Foundation’s office in Brussels, Ana Ramos, inaugurated and moderated a new edition of the ‘Encontros Virtuais Xunta-EU’

— A representative from the European Commission presented the EU perspective, and Norberto Penedo, Director of the Competitiveness Area of the IGAPE, the Galician viewpoint. 

Ana Ramos, Director of the Galicia Europa Foundation (FGE) office in Brussels, inaugurated and moderated a new edition of the ‘Encontros Virtuais Xunta-EU’, a forum for dialogue between the Galician government and European institutions. A representative of the European Commission and Norberto Penedo, Director of the Competitiveness Area at the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE), discussed the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) from the perspective of competitiveness.

In her remarks, Ana Ramos highlighted the opportunity this session provided to better understand the ongoing reflection process regarding the future EU budget, which will define the priorities and available resources for the coming years. The focus is clearly on strategic autonomy, the twin green and digital transitions, and sustainable and cohesive growth. Ramos explained that the FGE office is closely following this process while also actively advocating for a strong cohesion policy with sufficient funding, and a decentralized definition and management approach.

The European Commission, for its part, presented the objectives of the upcoming MFF, whose proposal is expected in July. The new budget aims to be simpler to manage and more flexible to address future challenges. It will also be results-oriented and include national plans with key reforms and investments, designed and implemented in partnership with national, regional, and local authorities. A new European Competitiveness Fund is expected to establish sufficient investment capacity to support strategic sectors and critical technologies.

Meanwhile, Norberto Penedo presented the Galician perspective, which argues that competitiveness and cohesion are not opposing concepts, but rather complementary ones. Among Galicia’s contributions to the EU’s global competitiveness are the Strategic Industrial Projects (PIEs), a homegrown tool that streamlines procedures, as well as Galician projects that have already received the STEP Seal, which the European Commission uses to identify strategic initiatives for European industrial autonomy.

Context

More than 700 Xunta representatives have taken part in around 50 sessions of the ‘Encontros Virtuais Xunta-EU’ since 2020. The Galicia Europa Foundation launched this initiative during the pandemic to provide updates on the EU’s response and the design of the 2021–2027 programming period. It has since evolved into a monthly forum for discussing the most relevant items on the EU agenda for Galicia.