After the European Parliament's resolution on island regions: what's next?

Island regions suffer from territorial discontinuity and peripheral position from the mainland, resulting in reduced competitiveness and development.

The ongoing EU challenges together with the upcoming green and digital transitions are likely to widen the gap between islands and the other regions even further if not properly compensated.

In this context - on the occasion of the twenty-first edition of the EURegionsWeek - high-level political representatives of Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Gozo and Crete gathered together to share key elements and solutions aiming at shaping a European Strategy for islands, starting from the European Parliament resolution of 7 June 2022 on “EU islands and cohesion policy: current situation and future challenges”.

The event took the form of a political debate with the EU institutions to keep the focus on the insular dimension and reaffirm the advocacy initiatives taken by the island regional partnership towards the EU institutions to bridge the existing territorial gaps resulting from islands’ territorial discontinuity.

The representatives of the Mediterranean peripheral islands called upon the European Union and the Member States to address the challenges and legislative bottlenecks of islands and move towards an effective territorial cohesion.

The contents of the political declaration signed by the Island Partnership have been emphasised during the event, with particular reference to the operational proposals aimed at integrating the insular dimension into the legislative process and the EU policies.

Several members of the European Parliament, including the chair of the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development (REGI), the vice-chair and members of the Intergroup for seas, rivers, islands and coastal areas (SEArica), as well as high-level representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission and civil society representatives actively contributed to the debate.

The high-ranking representatives of EU Institutions expressed their satisfaction with the initiatives carried out by Island Partnership, remarking the recognition of the specificities of islands territories and the need for tailor-made EU policies for islands to mitigate the additional costs resulting from their territorial discontinuity and peripheral position from the mainland.

The political conference was characterised by high attendance with more than 120 participants, including members of the European Parliament, members of the Committee of the Regions and European Economic and Social Committee, high-level representatives of the European Commission, political and technical representatives of island local, regional and national authorities and civil society representatives.