• The Director General for External and EU Relations, Jesús Gamallo, inaugurates the fourth meeting of the year in the “FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia” cycle, organised by the Galicia Europa Foundation.
  

• Jesús Gamallo stresses the need for instruments such as the Just Transition Fund, of which Galicia is a beneficiary, which helps to promote the opportunities offered by the ecological transition.

This morning, the Director General for External and EU Relations, Jesús Gamallo, opened the fourth meeting of the year of the FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia cycle, the monthly discussion forum, moderated by the Director of the Galicia Europa Foundation in Brussels, Ana Ramos, in which the Xunta and the European Commission exchange information on EU policies with the greatest impact on Galicia. 

The director general indicated that the ecological transition implies structural changes that result in the decline of economies and employment levels in many European regions. To alleviate this situation, instruments such as the Just Transition Fund (FTJ) are needed, which will allocate more than 100 million euros to the province of A Coruña because it has been identified as a just transition zone, due to the closure of the As Pontes and Meirama power plants. Jesús Gamallo also highlighted the role of the Galicia Europa Foundation, which has organised multiple high-level meetings between the European institutions and the Galician Government to discuss the implications of the approval of the FTJ, while collaborating with the Directorate General for Energy Planning and Natural Resources and the Igape in the monitoring of this matter.

After their speeches, both representatives of the European Commission’s Directorates-General for Energy and Regional Policy discussed the functioning of the Just Transition Mechanism (FTT), proposed by the EU executive to ensure that the ecological transition is in any case “fair and inclusive”.

The FTT will seek to mobilise over the period 21-27 around 55 billion euros in public and private investments through its three pillars: a Just Transition scheme under InvestEU, a public sector lending instrument and a Just Transition Fund. However, access to this funding will only be secured through the Territorial Just Transition Plans, which are still pending approval.

Virtual meetings between the European Commission and the Xunta de Galicia

The FGE|NextGeneratiOn Galicia cycle of meetings brings together the Xunta de Galicia and representatives of the European institutions on a monthly basis to jointly address the policies promoted by the EU. Since its launch in September 2020, and with more than 20 meetings held, this cycle has promoted the discussion of many issues on the EU agenda, such as the Industrial Strategy for Europe, the Green Pact or the European Digital Agenda.