Presentation of the POCTEFA Western Functional Area strategy

The presentation of the Strategy of the Western Functional Area of POCTEFA 2021-2027 took place on December 14th in Ficoba (Irun).

The event was organised by the EGTC Euroregion New Aquitaine Euskadi Navarra, the entity responsible for coordinating the development and promotion of this Functional Area, one of the five areas identified by the POCTEFA programme that integrates the territories of Euskadi, Navarra and the south of the New Aquitaine Region to the Baretous Valley.

The aim of the Strategy is to establish the priorities for action in the coming years in relation to aspects linked to employment, mobility and multilingualism in this cross-border territory.

The following participated in the presentation to the media:

• Mikel Anton, Director for the European Union of the Basque Government.
• Mathieu Bergé, Regional Councillor of New Aquitaine, delegate for the Euroregion, Cross-border Cooperation, Ports and Airports.
• Sergio Pérez Garcia, Director General for External Action of the Government of Navarre
• Joseba Erremundeguy, Delegate Councillor for Cross-border, European and International Cooperation of the Agglomération Pays Basque.
• Iker Goiria, Advisor to the Office of the Diputada General of Gipuzkoa.
• Jean Pierre Mirande, Vice-President in charge of mountain policies and cross-border cooperation, delegate for the mountain plan and delegate for relations with Navarre of the Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

In the words of Mikel Anton, "this Strategy will bring with it new funding opportunities and actions to improve the quality of life of citizens on both sides of the border. This strategy is key to cross-border mobility which, in addition to maintaining historical and cultural ties, the Basque language as a common language and a very diverse natural heritage, presents an intense level of interrelation, as well as common territorial challenges that must be tackled in an innovative and integrated way".

Mathieu Bergé stressed that "the mobilisation of local actors, the definition of territories according to their needs and capacities, as well as the will to move forward from spaces of shared governance and cross-border cooperation, guarantee the success of this Strategy".

Sergio Pérez announced that this call will be launched in spring 2024, with an ERDF allocation of 14.8 million euros, which seeks to finance territorial structuring projects in order to implement the challenges and objectives identified in the three thematic areas of the Western Functional Area. 

He also highlighted that, according to a study by the European Commission, the elimination of 20% of cross-border obstacles could increase the GDP of border regions by 2%.

All the participants agreed on the importance of this Strategy to offer effective solutions to the everyday problems of the cross-border population, which must be tackled within the scope of an innovative and multi-thematic integrated territorial vision.

After the presentation to the press, Arola Urdangarin, Director of the Euroregion, together with Verónica Sánchez, Coordinator of the Western Functional Area, explained all the details of this strategy to over one hundred agents from the three territories (Euskadi, Navarre and the south of the New Aquitaine Region), who welcomed this initiative with great interest.