The political declaration to set up an inter-institutional task force for the rights of the Islands has had the go-ahead from all the presidents of the island regions - Corsica (France), the Balearic Islands (Spain), Crete and the Ionian Islands (Greece) - and the Minister for Gozitan Affairs of the Government of Malta.

The document was promoted by the governor of Sardinia, Christian Solinas, who submitted it to the attention of the heads of the European institutions with the aim of placing the island dimension at the center of the institutional debate and of the main programmatic documents of the European Union.

"The Region of Sardinia is engaged in continuous, decisive and constant work which aims to give a voice to the Islands and obtain, at a European level, adequate policies that take into account the needs and rights of the territories", said Solinas.

The regional initiative aims in detail to set up an inter-institutional task force made up of representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee. The objective, in essence, is to give a governance structure within the European Commission that takes into account the island realities and favors the integration of the island dimension in the study documents produced by the EU institutions that prepare the European policy formulation processes .

"In Europe there is a lack of specific legal devices capable of acknowledging and translating into concrete facts the needs of citizens of island regions, over 20 million citizens who, distributed in as many as 13 Member States, represent 5% of the European population - underlined the president of the Region - There is a lack of a strategic approach to deal with the structural problems deriving from the territorial discontinuity of the continent, which have a significant impact on the economic conditions of citizens and businesses in our territories. Keeping the voice of the Islands of Europe alive and seeking solutions to issues that impact our daily lives is a goal we have set ourselves and which sees us as protagonists of important initiatives at a European level».

The forum of the island regions scheduled for next October in Brussels will also examine the requests of the island territories.

A few months ago a historic recognition arrived in the context of the European device which will regulate the decarbonisation of maritime transport, and which concerns the exemptions from the application of the European legislation which will make it possible to avoid price increases for routes subject to public service obligations which operate in connections to and from Sardinia.

For the first time, therefore, a sort of "insularity clause" was applied in a sector of strategic importance for Sardinian businesses and households, as underlined by President Solinas in March immediately after the agreement on the proposal for a European regulation on use of renewable fuels with low carbon emissions (FuelEU Maritime) which for Sardinia provides for temporary exemptions for the Genoa-Porto Torres, Civitavecchia-Arbatax-Cagliari, Naples-Cagliari-Palermo and Civitavecchia-Olbia routes.

(Unioneonline/ss)

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