The President of the Government of the Azores conveyed today his support to the proposal for the creation of a European Federation of Island Tourism Offices with the aim of reinforcing cooperation between the representative bodies responsible for the promotion of several coastal and maritime regions of Europe.

The project was under analyses at the meeting of the Islands Committee, one of the six geographical committees of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR), which comprises all 24 regional island authorities of Europe.

The meeting was held during the CPMR General Assembly. The event will run until Friday in the Swedish city of Umea.

For the President of the Government, this European Federation should serve as a platform for cooperation and exchange between the professional bodies of coastal and maritime regions, thus contributing to the development and implementation of cooperation programmes intended to promote these regions.

In June, the Committee of Natural Resources of the Committee of Regions approved the report submitted by Vasco Cordeiro on the European Strategy for Coastal Tourism, which also provides the creation of a Federation of Tourism Offices and Agencies of Coastal and Maritime Regions.

Moreover, today's meeting of the Islands Commission of CPMR also addressed other themes of interest to the Azores, mainly then Declaration of the Islands on Climate Change as well as the presence of regions in the Seas and Coastal Areas Intergroup of the European Parliament, a body composed of members of Parliament and various political groups.

The President of the Government is participating in the 42nd General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe, an interregional cooperation body that includes 150 regions and 28 Member-States, congregating nearly 200 million European citizens.

The mission of CPMR is to defend the interests of its members within national and European institutions, through the promotion of territorial cohesion and regional power in Europe as well as through the reinforcement of the peripheral and maritime dimension of the European Union.