The pressure it generates Andorra on the Catalan border territories was fully included in the bilateral agenda yesterday with Spain. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albaresadmitted that the cross-border relationship involves “small difficulties” that need to be resolved and expressly cited the pressure on housing, border crossings, mobility and infrastructure as some of the areas that require more coordination between the two states and the administrations of the territory.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, with Minister Tor.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, with Minister Tor.
dawn defended that this reality must be addressed with a stable structure of cooperation in which, in addition to the governments ofAndorra i Spainhave a voice Government of Catalonia and the municipalities most directly affected. “The Government of Catalonia must have a very important voice, but also the municipalities that most directly have this cross-border cooperation with Andorra“, he affirmed. The minister placed the objective in the creation of a “great zone of shared prosperity” between Andorra and the Pyrenees Catalan and Spanish. The desire is now to give shape to “permanent instruments” that allow dealing with tensions that have long been felt south of the border. Among the tools on the table is the creation of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (AECT) which will not even include Andorra, Spain, the Generalitat de Catalunya and municipalities of theHigh Urgellbut also localities ofOccitaniawith the aim of expanding the specific strategy of cross-border cooperation and maintaining open coordination between all the administrations involved. dawn he insisted that these structures must serve both to take advantage of the shared economic opportunities and to “solve” the problems arising from the intense relationship between the two territories.
The Spanish Foreign Minister during his visit to Andorra this morning, meeting with Xavier Espot and Imma Tor.
“The development of Andorra and the neighboring territories must be approached in a coordinated manner”
Mobility is one of the main fronts. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Imma Torexplained that the issue occupied an important part of the meeting, although it did not go into detail about the various projects shared between Spain and the principality. Tor yes he remembered the project of the Tramwaywhich has already received European funds to study a connection that facilitates travel on both sides of the border, and pointed out that theAECT it must also make it possible to opt for European funding to develop joint projects. Work and residential pressure is also part of the problem. Tor he remembered that Andorra is a country that attracts a lot of labor and defended that people who come to work in the principality do it “in a perfectly regular situation”. In this framework, he placed the controls on the so-called false borders, with open files and annulments of residence and work permits when irregularities have been detected. The minister assured that in this area there is “absolute cooperation” with Spain
“We want the people who come to work to be in a perfectly regular situation”
The meeting also served to give new impetus to the deployment of the border management agreement between Andorra and the European Union. Tor explained that the Andorran and Spanish governments have committed to speed up the bilateral and trilateral negotiations that must specify the “practical modalities of application” of the agreement. spain, in addition, it will maintain support for the principality during the process of approving the text to Council of the EU.
“Proceedings have been initiated and residence and work permits have been cancelled. There is absolute cooperation”
This development will have to translate the provisions of the agreement on the ground and specify the coordination between Andorra, Spain i France in migration issues, controls and operation of border crossings. Tor spoke of a “new impetus” to negotiations that will have to resolve the operational aspects still pending and adapt the European framework to the specific reality of a country surrounded by two member states of the European Union
The creation of a European grouping of territorial cooperation is being studied
The message from the two governments is that the border is not just an administrative line. The intensity of labor, commercial and mobility flows forces us to deal with the difficulties in a joint, stable way and with more weight on the local actors. dawn he defended that the borders can be “a space for meeting, cooperation and shared prosperity”, and he placed the Pyrenean area as a territory where this coordination must be strengthened.
