"As we stated at the Conference of Presidents of the Outermost Regions, the islands and these regions must assert themselves as laboratories of the future, with the capacity to innovate, with the guarantee of exercising the right to reside in our islands and not needing to migrate to find opportunities for happiness", stated José Manuel Bolieiro.

The leader of the Azorean executive was speaking to journalists this afternoon, in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, after participating in the opening session of the General Assembly of the Islands Commission of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR), which will take place until Wednesday in that Azorean city.

According to José Manuel Bolieiro, the islands are also important in terms of social cohesion, territorial cohesion and for the affirmation of the principle of territorial continuity, in a period of major transitions in terms of climate, energy, mobility and migratory transition.

In the opening statement of the works, the president of the Azorean executive stressed the importance of cohesion, at a time when political and strategic transitions are taking place in the European Union and in some Member States.

"This was a very strong statement, unanimous and recognised by all the islands and [...] I am convinced that, both within the framework of the Commission of Peripheral and Maritime Regions, and even in the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission itself, they will be aware of our struggle and, above all, of our reason", he admitted.

José Manuel Bolieiro also highlighted the fact that the CPMR General Assembly is being held in the Azores.

"With this, we also mark our centrality in the political debate on the islands and the geostrategic importance that they have, from the outset in European policy, in the definition of cohesion policies and in the relevant importance of the sea and the recognition, not only of the outermost, maritime and insular constraints that remain, but also with the level of discussion on the opportunities that the islands give to the world and to European policy", he said.

The CPMR programme includes sessions dedicated to maritime affairs, energy, transport, environment and climate, as well as a session on the future of the European Union islands after the next European elections.

In a statement, the Government of the Azores announced that around fifty members from eleven island regions of countries such as Portugal (Azores and Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands and Balearic Islands), France (Brittany, Corsica, Guadeloupe and Réunion), Malta (Gozo), Estonia (Saaremaa) and Sweden (Gotland) will participate in the works.

Representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Council of the European Union and from associations linked to different island realities will also participate.

The Islands Commission, which meets in General Assembly once a year, "is one of the six geographical commissions of the CPMR, covering 19 European island regional authorities located in the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans", according to the statement.

The closing session, scheduled for 12:50 local time (13:50 in Lisbon) on Wednesday, will be chaired by the vice-president of the Regional Government of the Azores, Artur Lima.

The main objective of the Islands Commission is "to encourage European institutions and Member States to pay special attention to the islands, to recognise the permanent disadvantages and vulnerabilities resulting from their insularity and to apply the most appropriate policies to their specific characteristics".

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