The Regional Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation defended in Tenerife, Canary Islands, that “after the actions taken by the ORs last year to prepare and draft strategic documents,” it is necessary “to obtain a formal, pondered and coherent reaction from the European Commission” and weighed “actions and policies for a renewed strategy, especially in the context of the next financial perspectives.”
Rodrigo Oliveira spoke, on behalf of the President of the Government, at the partnership Session which closed the 16th Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions, stating that “after a period of intense work to agree on political positions,” it is fundamental to “develop another type of initiatives, focused on  more pragmatic and sectoral aspects by promoting studies, work groups and conferences ", such as agriculture, fisheries, maritime policy and transport, which are subject of great interest to the Region.
Speaking before the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, the Regional Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation defended the vision of “a strong, comprehensive and ambitious regional policy, provided with the adequate resources and in accordance to the Europe 2020 Strategy.”
“We will continue to work with the Directorate-General for Regional Policy, through this Conference, but also other interregional cooperation bodies to defend its future,” Rodrigo Oliveira said, reminding that in the context of European territorial specificities, “the ORs are the only whose constraints are recognised and embodied in the Treaty and is not acceptable a tendency to dilute and confuse their concept.”
Rodrigo Oliveira also stated that “the partnership between the Commission and the ORs increasingly implies” working closely with the European Parliament,” defending the strengthening of the transverse action of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy with the various European Commission services, particularly with those that are not so aware of the reality, political meaning and legal basis of the status of the ORs.”
 For instance, the Regional Under Secretary stated that the “value of article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union does not any question; it should be indubitably applied as the legal basis for EU action to the benefit of the ORs.”
This session was attended by the Presidents and representatives of the ORs as well as by the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, the three Member States and the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Maria das Neves.
Rodrigo Oliveira stressed, therefore, in his speech, “the strong historical, cultural, political and emotional ties between the Azores and Cape Verde – embodied in the Framework Document for Cooperation signed in 2008,” arguing that  “also in the context of Outermost Regions, we should work towards the development of a space for dialogue and cooperation between the four Atlantic archipelagos.”
 Furthermore, Rodrigo Oliveira stated that “in the current European context, economic and financial integration, and a renewed and competitive Europe, cannot detach from the goals of reducing regional disparities, particularly the economic, social and territorial cohesion of Outermost Regions.”