The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, pledged on Thursday in Ceuta to work, as Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions (Comité de las Regiones), for the autonomous city to be formally represented on this EU body. The announcement came after a meeting with the city president Juan Jesús Vivas.
Moreno linked his pledge to the need for border regions to receive greater attention in European policy. Vivas had previously called for closer European engagement with Ceuta and additional support. Both stressed the political nature of the initiative; no immediate institutional decision was pending.
The move comes against a backdrop of tension on the border with Morocco, an increase in irregular crossings and an intense debate in Spain and at EU level. Discussions include the distribution of unaccompanied minors within Spain and the timetable for their relocation; some regions had recently been waiting for specific information from the Interior Ministry. Vivas also pointed to deadlines from Madrid that had yet to be met. Local authorities in Ceuta are calling for additional staff and funding to manage the situation. Moreno criticised the central government’s speed of response and called the role of Frontex into question. The situation in Ceuta has also been raised in the European Parliament.
There is no automatic process for the direct inclusion of an autonomous city such as Ceuta in the Committee of the Regions . The Committee of the Regions is an advisory body of the EU, made up of representatives of the regional and local levels of the member states; responsibilities, national appointment procedures and rules on mandates determine who receives seats. In Spain’s case, the arrangements for Ceuta’s presence – for example, a permanent seat, observer status or representation through delegation arrangements – would have to be agreed politically and coordinated with Madrid and the relevant EU bodies. The Committee itself cannot unilaterally change national delegations. No specific decisions or legislative amendments had been announced by 20 August.
Moreno’s announcement is therefore primarily a political signal to Ceuta and towards Brussels. As Vice-President, Juanma Moreno can keep the issue in the public eye at the Comité de las Regiones; he has already attended plenary sessions in Brussels. For Juan Jesús Vivas, the initiative forms part of efforts to develop a coordinated strategy for talks with the EU. Whether, and in what form, Ceuta will have a greater presence on the Committee of the Regions depends on further discussions at national and European level.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).