Foreign Minister Bernat Solé: “We want to be a strong, internationally active voice, and that is why we are leading alliances with other European territories and bodies to work towards joint positions”
The Generalitat Government of Catalonia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency has exchanged via the Delegation to the European Union several strategies and measures adopted by the government to deal with COVID-19 with over fifteen institutions, bodies, and think tanks in Brussels, as well as with different European regional and sectoral networks. The aim is to be able to forge alliances that will allow us to acquire the best practices and strategies to fight the coronavirus crisis.
The Minister for Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Bernat Solé, explained that “we want to be a strong, internationally active voice, and that is why we are leading alliances with other European territories, bodies and networks to work together and to share good practices.” “The task of international exchange is essential, because it enables the sharing of measures from a local and regional perspective, nearer the people,” added Solé.
The document, which will be updated monthly with new measures, has been very well received and is the starting point to the sharing of experience in the management of the pandemic by various international actors. “No state will manage on its own. We will succeed only if we are able to work together and share strategies in a decentralized, networked model,” prompted the Foreign Minister.
For example, measures implemented by the Generalitat have been included in the platform set up by the Committee of the Regions, which sets out practices for dealing with COVID-19 in various European regions. The Catalan government’s Delegate to the EU, Meritxell Serret added that “now more than ever, we are projecting a global outlook to find local solutions, cooperating to find common strategies adapted to each territory.”
This management by the Department of Foreign Action has also been reflected in the joint position by the Four Motors for Europe, the network that brings together Lombardy, Baden-Württemberg, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Catalonia, which has valued the importance of exchanging know-how and political experience to help each other and share inspiration in the design of emergency health management policies. Good practices have likewise been exchanged with other regions such as the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine or Portugal’s Azores.
From now on, the rest of the government delegations will be brought into play in order to share experience with the actors in those countries where Catalonia is present.