Brussels, January 25th, 2022. – The Director General for External and EU Relations, Jesús Gamallo, today opened the first virtual meeting of 2022 of the “FGE | Next Generation Galicia” cycle, the monthly meeting point established by the Galicia Europa Foundation between the Xunta and the European Commission which, on this occasion, was dedicated to addressing the EU’s Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility Strategy, as well as the set of legislative proposals framed in the same.

During his speech, the director recalled that the transport sector is the second largest source of expenditure for European households, and that in the case of Galicia, it accounts for 13.5% of its GDP and employs more than 40,000 people in sectors such as the automotive industry.

Gamallo highlighted the Galician government’s commitment to a fair and inclusive ecological transition, as set out in the set of proposals submitted to the central government for incorporation into the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Among the proposals, the director highlighted the “AutoÁncora” project, which aims to create a laboratory for the integration of clean propulsion technologies and to build an infrastructure for the development and validation of new generation vehicles.

After the director’s speech, a large representation of the Xunta was able to discuss with the member of the cabinet of the Commissioner for Transport, Pablo Fábregas, the latest steps taken by the European Commission and the latest proposals launched in the framework of its Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility Strategy and the European Green Pact, ranging from the review of CO2 standards to the review of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Galicia welcomes the recent revision of this network, which includes the railway section between Oporto and Vigo to be executed before 2040.

Cycle of virtual meetings Xunta-UE of the FGE

First under the name of Galicia in the economic recovery of the EU and now as “FGE | Next Generation Galicia”, the cycle of virtual meetings of the FGE dealt, since its launch in September 2020, with numerous issues of relevance to Galicia such as the green transition, the Industrial Strategy for Europe or the future cohesion policy 2021-2027. These meetings are attended by political and technical officials from the departments of the Xunta and the European Commission. With the change of name, the FGE wants to underline the role it is playing in providing technical support to the Next Generation Galicia Commission, created by the Galician Government to identify projects to be financed by the European recovery instrument Next Generation EU.