The President of the Government considered that the outcome of the 2nd Macaronesian Archipelago Summit, held Friday on São Miguel, was "clearly positive" as it provided a renewed political impetus for cooperation and collaboration between the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde and Canaries.
 
"The assessment of this 2nd Macaronesian Summit is clearly positive. In fact, it has given a new political impetus to the cooperation and collaboration among the archipelagos of Macaronesia," stated Vasco Cordeiro after signing the joint Final Declaration.
 
The President of the Government spoke during a press conference at the end of the summit that took place in the village of Furnas. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, the President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, and the Councillor for the Economy, Industry, Commerce and Research of the Government of the Canaries, Pedro Ortega Rodríguez, on behalf of President Fernando Clavijo Batlle.
 
"We are here and we are encouraged by a renewed willingness to give a renewed impetus to the collaboration and cooperation among the four archipelagos," said Vasco Cordeiro. According to him, the cooperation among the Azores, Madeira, Canaries and Cape Verde "is well beyond the aspects that depend on others."
 
"This is a time when the archipelagos that are part of the European Union are focused on a particular subject. As far as we can say, this 2nd Summit also took place with the aim of asking ourselves what can we do for ourselves instead of asking others what can they do for us," said the government official.
 
The outcome of this high-level meeting also identified concrete areas considered strategic in this collaboration, such as the economy of the sea, promotion of trade, tourism and investment, research, development and innovation, youth, culture and climate change, among others.
 
"This was a good working day that now gives us good perspectives to work even harder for the benefit of each of our Regions and each of our archipelagos," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The Final Declaration establishing the Conference of Macaronesian Governments (CGM) was signed at the end of this summit. It will be permanent and comprises the government leaders of the four archipelagos.
 
In this regard, it was decided that the Conference of Macaronesian Governments will be held every two years, on a rotating basis, in the following order: Azores, Canaries, Madeira and Cape Verde.
 
The four government leaders also defined the following areas of strategic coordination: Economy of the Sea; Promotion of Trade, Tourism and Investment; Research, Development, Energy and Climate Change; Youth, Culture and Citizenship.
 
The areas on which each archipelago will be responsible for promoting and monitoring will be defined by mutual agreement within three months and the respective representatives will be appointed for each area in an equal period.
 
Moreover, it was decided to further develop the political positions deemed necessary to defend the interests of the Macaronesian space and the possibilities of recognising them in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework.
 
The Summit Final Declaration also includes, over the course of the current presidency, the formalisation of the Macaronesian Sea Cluster, the operational development of the AIR Center, the creation of synergies with the EU initiative "Clean Energy for Islands," the establishment of the Climate Change Observatory of Macaronesia. Moreover, it provides for the organisation of the first Macaronesian Games in 2019 that will include two sports in competition at training levels.
 
The document signed by Vasco Cordeiro, Ulisses Correia e Silva, Miguel Albuquerque and Pedro Ortega Rodríguez also emphasises the desire to strengthen the political dialogue among the four archipelagos. The goal will be achieved by developing synergies and implementing the necessary cooperation mechanisms to address the interests and promotion of the archipelagos of Macaronesia as well as cooperation and integration within the EU framework and ECOWAS - Economic Community of West African States.
 
Hence, the heads of the Government defended the potential of Macaronesia towards the defence and assertion of EU and ECOWAS interests in the Atlantic, namely in the areas of trade, maritime security, biodiversity protection and the fight against climate change, among others.
 
The government leaders also welcomed the existence of 24 common projects in the archipelagos of Macaronesia, representing a global investment of around 30 million Euros under the MAC Operational Programme, in force until 2020. Furthermore, they urged public and private operators in their territories to improve coordination for the submission of applications during the second call of this programme, which provides an overall allocation of more than 50 million Euros.