Los días 13 y 14 de octubre Archam –the alliance of the Chambers of Commerce of the Atlantic Arc– held a forum in Brussels in which it presented to European institutions the actions being carried out to advance its goal of contributing to the creation of an Atlantic Macro-region.
The first day of the forum took place at the delegation of the Presidency of the Atlantic Arc Commission of the CPMR in the European capital, bringing together representatives of the Chambers of Portugal, Spain, and France that are part of the initiative. After a technical meeting in which progress made in ongoing projects was shared, the Alliance’s Challenges were reviewed and new actions were planned.
The president of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce – which holds the Technical Secretariat of the project –, José Ignacio Zudaire, welcomed the presidents of the Chambers of Avilés, Daniel González Menéndez; Cantabria, Tomás Dasgoas; Gijón, Félix Baragaño; Gipuzkoa, Mauricio Arregui; Oviedo, Carlos Paniceres and its vice president José Manuel Ferreira; the general secretaries of the Chambers of Cantabria, Rosa Vega; Santiago, Rosa Mary Cardeso; Tui, Ariadna Pino; the general secretaries of Bilbao, Mikel Arieta-araunabeña; Gipuzkoa Javier Zubia and Oviedo Álvaro Alonso; the Director General of A Coruña, Daniel Tafalla; as well as the treasurer of the Chamber of Pontevedra, Vigo and Villagarcía de Arosa, Ramón Víctor Correa.
Next, the Basque Country Delegate to the European Union, Marta Marín, shared in a presentation the steps taken by this union of Regions – which currently includes representation from three States (France, Spain, and Portugal) and aspires to include in the future regions from three others (Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Canada) – toward the creation of the Atlantic Macro-region.
The day concluded with the presentation of the conclusions and agreements adopted for the development of Archam projects, attended by the Commissioner of the Atlantic Corridor of the Government of Spain, José Antonio Sebastián; Member of the European Parliament, Jonás Fernández; the Minister of Mobility, Environment and Emergency Management of the Government of Asturias, Alejandro Jesús Calvo; the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility of the Government of Asturias, Jorge García; and the Deputy Director General for the Strategy of the Regional Model and Investment Attraction of the Government of Asturias, Nuria Castaño.
The second day began with a working breakfast at the headquarters of the European Parliament – organized by the Renew Group together with the Atlantic Arc Commission of the CPMR –, in which the presidents and general secretaries of the participating Chambers and representatives of different bodies of the European Parliament shared an integrated vision of the development of the Atlantic Arc as an opportunity to advance toward the macro-region.
The meeting began with a presentation on the roadmap for an Atlantic macro-region, moderated by MEPs Oihane Agirregoitia and Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, with contributions from the Secretary General of the European Democratic Party, Sandro Gozi; the Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Government of Spain, Fernando Sampedro Marcos; and the Secretary General for External Action and Euskadi Global of the Basque Government and representative of the Presidency of the Atlantic Arc Commission, Ander Caballero.
Next, the president of CCDR Norte, António Cunha; the Secretary General of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, Mikel Arieta-Araunabeña Bustinza; and the development officer at the Baltic Sea Strategy Point (BSP), Tom Schumacher, contributed their insights on the Atlantic environment, and the coordinator of the Education policy area of EUSBSR, Anders Bergström, explained the experiences gained by the Baltic Macro-region.
A debate then followed with the participation of MEPs Paulo do Nascimento Cabral (EPP, Portugal) and Marcos Ros Sempere (S&D, Spain, and S&D coordinator in Regi).
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, presented the conclusions of the meeting and closed the session.
The day then moved to the delegation to the European Union of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, where a session on the creation of the Atlantic Macro-region was held with various permanent representatives and European stakeholders.
The Commissioner of the Atlantic Corridor, José Antonio Sebastián Ruiz; the Minister of Mobility, Environment and Emergency Management of the Principality of Asturias, Alejandro Jesús Calvo Rodríguez; and the Executive Secretary of the Atlantic Arc Commission of the CRPM, Élise Wattrelot, participated in the round table “Development of the Atlantic Corridor”, while the development officer at Baltic Sea Strategy Point (BSP), Tom Schumacher; the Counsellor for Territorial Policy, General Affairs and the European Parliament, Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, Juan Fco. Hernández Alfaro; the Director of the Government of Cantabria’s Office in Brussels, Inmaculada Valencia; and the Director of European Affairs of the Basque Government, Mikel Antón, discussed the added value that the creation of an Atlantic Macro-region provides compared to existing Atlantic strategies in the panel “The Atlantic Macro-region”. Both panels were moderated by Jose Antonio Calvo, of Acorde Consulting.
About ARCHAM
The Chambers of Commerce of Northern Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Burgos, Navarra, the Basque Country, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine signed in Bilbao, in June 2023, the Declaration of the Chambers of Commerce of the Atlantic Arc, with the aim of creating mechanisms of inter-chamber and inter-institutional cooperation to jointly address the economic, social, and environmental challenges faced by the regions of the Atlantic Arc. Since this first Conference, three more have been held – in Porto, Oviedo, and Vigo – which have advanced the identification of common areas of interest, the drafting of a strategic document, and the inclusion of public administrations and other institutions in the project. The strategic document identifies three priority areas of work common to all territories:
- Transport and Intermodality
- Promotion of the Atlantic rail corridor
- Support for the intermodality and connectivity of the Ports of the Atlantic Arc
- Abolition of tolls on the AP66 and AP9 motorways in compliance with the European Commission’s opinion.
- Hydrogen Corridor and Renewable Energies
- Development of the hydrogen corridor
- Offshore wind energy
- The Camino de Santiago as a unifying hallmark
- Wine tourism
- Leisure, nature, and wellness activities
The Chambers of the Atlantic Arc aim to generate synergies around these areas of work to transform the territory and make it more competitive, more sustainable, more dynamic, more open and connected; as well as more attractive and with a higher quality of life for its citizens.