The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, warned of the risks of centralising European funding at the 30th Conference of the outermost regions in Guadeloupe on 5 November 2026. In a bilateral meeting with the European Commission’s Vice-President, Raffaele Fitto, he praised the new strategic approach to the outermost regions, but called for objectives and instruments to be closely aligned in the next Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028 to 2034.
According to Clavijo, the planned redesign of the budget structure—which folds traditional funding streams for cohesion, agriculture and fisheries into broader national and regional plans—risks diluting specific allocations and weakening the direct involvement of the outermost regions in planning, management and oversight. He referred to Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which provides for a differentiated financial and legal framework in view of structural disadvantages arising from remoteness, insularity and territorial fragmentation.
Clavijo thanked Fitto for his efforts to recognise the outermost regions as strategic areas of the European Union. At the same time, he called for coherence between the strategy and the future budget: without ring-fenced funding and appropriate instruments, the approach would remain a mere statement of intent. The president urged that additional cohesion allocations, special support mechanisms for agriculture and fisheries, and compensation for higher transport and supply costs be retained.
One focus of the meeting was exemptions from the European Emissions Trading for certain air and sea links to the outermost regions. Clavijo welcomed the extension to 2035 proposed by the Commission and reaffirmed the Canary Islands’ position that these rules should be extended to 2040 and additional guarantees included. The aim is to avoid disproportionate extra costs, ensure the islands remain accessible and prevent port activities from shifting to non-EU countries.
Clavijo also raised the ongoing migration pressure on the Canary Islands as an external border of the European Union. He called for specific responses to the operational and financial challenges arising from arrivals. According to the regional government, Fitto will visit the Canary Islands on 3 December.
With upcoming budget negotiations in mind, Clavijo urged the nine outermost regions to present a united position. Only in this way could they secure the special programmes and correction mechanisms under the next financial package and preserve the regions’ ability to act.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).