— The Director General of Foreign and EU Relations inaugurated the second meeting of the year of the “FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia” cycle.

— The Director General highlighted the importance of “Fit for 55” in the current climate context and the need to strengthen its negotiations to achieve its emissions reduction target.

Brussels, March 31st, 2023. The Director General of Foreign and EU Relations, Jesús Gamallo Aller, opened this morning the second meeting of the year of the cycle “FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia”, the monthly discussion forum in which the Xunta and the European institutions exchange information on European policies with the greatest impact for Galicia. The meeting was moderated by the director of the Brussels office of the Fundación Galician Europa, Ana Ramos Barbosa.

The director general pointed to a rapid conclusion of “Fit for 55”, the legislative package presented by the European Commission in July 2021 to boost, between now and 2030, the reduction by at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions with respect to 1990 levels, as a preliminary step to achieve climate neutrality in 2050. After several months of negotiations, the first agreements were reached in December 2022.

On the other hand, two representatives of the European Commission presented the peculiarities of two specific proposals in this legislative package: the Social Climate Fund, associated with the application of emissions trading to new sectors, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which will equalize the carbon price of domestic and imported products. After her speech, the general director of Environmental Quality, Sustainability and Climate Change, Sagrario Pérez Castellanos, explained the work being carried out by the Xunta de Galicia on climate issues.

Virtual meetings between the European Commission and Xunta de Galicia

The cycle of meetings FGE | NextGeneratiOn Galicia brings together every month the Xunta de Galicia with representatives of European institutions to address, jointly, the policies promoted from the EU. The cycle, organized by the Fundación Galicia Europa since September 2020, promotes the discussion of many issues on the EU agenda, such as the European Industrial Strategy, the Green Deal or the Digital Agenda for Europe.