BASQUE PP DELEGATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

On 3 December, a delegation of the Basque PP, led by Javier Zarzalejos and Javier de Andrés, held several meetings in the European Parliament. That morning, they met with German MEP Christine Schneider of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Esther Herranz, an MEP from La Rioja, to discuss issues related to agriculture, livestock and the protection of the wolf.

De Andrés indicated that the only government opposed to this proposal is that of the PSOE in Spain, and proposed that the European People’s Party work on a request to EU governments to modify the regulations.

The delegation also discussed the issue of European funds, such as the Next Generation and resilience funds, in a meeting with Isabel Benjumea MEP. De Andrés criticised the poor implementation of the funds in Spain, where less than a quarter of the available resources have been used. He pointed out that the current system is not meeting the objectives of employment, innovation and development, and called for greater decentralisation, so that the autonomous communities with the capacity to manage the funds can do so more effectively. The central government, with the support of parties such as the PNV, has centralised management, which is creating a bottleneck that particularly affects businesses and the real economy.

Finally, the delegation met with the PP MEP Susana Solía to discuss automotive issues, which are so important for the Basque Country, and especially for Álava. They discussed the difficult situation of the sector and the need for the EU to recover its competitive capacity in this sector vis-à-vis the USA and China.