Following the session held in Girona in late July, Tarragona hosted a new day of this presentation cycle, which will continue in the coming weeks in the different vegueries of the region. This meeting is part of a series of presentations that will take place in the coming weeks in the different vegueries of the country.
The Minister of European Union and External Action, Jaume Duch, highlighted that the territory has the capacity to compete in European calls for proposals. This service is aimed at helping municipalities obtain direct funding from the European Commission.
The initiative has a team that offers support, especially to municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, to facilitate local governments' access to European funds directly managed by the European Commission or its executive agencies. The minister advocated for international dimension to cease being a possibility reserved for a few municipalities and become a tool available to all local entities.
The service provides support throughout the lifecycle of a European project, from training and proposal writing to execution and justification before the European Commission. The minister stressed the need for strong, prepared local governments capable of participating in these European and international arenas.
Between 1986 and 2021, Catalonia received 6 billion euros in structural and cohesion funds. In the case of Tarragona, being part of an internal market of 450 million people has contributed to consolidating the most important petrochemical industrial port in Southern Europe, as explained by Duch.
The minister pointed out that these resources have helped transform the region, modernizing sectors such as agriculture and fishing, renewing infrastructure, strengthening social action programs, and promoting innovation. He highlighted the involvement of town councils, provincial councils, and county councils in this process.
The presentation was also attended by the Government delegate in Tarragona, Lucía López; the mayor of Tarragona, Rubén Viñuales i Elías; the Secretary for European Affairs, Agustí Fernández de Losada; the Deputy Director General for Support to the Internationalization of Local Governments, Carlota Rosés, and the program coordinator, Juan Luis Aparicio.
The Department of European Union and External Action also has a website and a weekly newsletter, #FonsUECat, which alerts about European funding opportunities. Additionally, a call for grants has been launched to promote the internationalization of local entities in Catalonia.
