Innovatie en "groene" economie moeten meer nadruk krijgen binnen EU (en)

Group photo of the meeting of the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions of the EU, in Valladolid. EFE

The extraordinary meeting of the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions held on Friday in Valladolid discussed ways of bringing about the green, competitive and connected economic model proposed in the wake of the recent Copenhagen summit.

The president of the Committee, Italy's Mercedes Bresso, pointed out that "green growth" is probably the most commonly-shared objective in Europe today. However, she said, since the economic and financial crisis, it is not the easiest one to achieve.

“First of all we must invest in new sectors, new products and services to create green jobs; secondly, people in work as well as the unemployed must be able to gain the qualifications needed to get these jobs", explained Bresso, warning that "green jobs are no longer a thing of the future; they must become a reality today.”

Juan Vicente Herrera, president of the regional government of the host region, Castilla y León, stressed that “innovation is, without a doubt, the way for Europe and every one of its regions and countries to keep their place in a world that has seen the emergence of extraordinarily powerful competitors”.

He also called for continued commitments to be made to agriculture and livestock farming, which he said are “important for economic growth and sustainability”.

The regional government of Castilla y León also presented the electric vehicle initiative being developed by the local Renault factory in collaboration with the regional government. Committee members even visited the factory, located is in the city of Palencia.

The meeting was attended by 130 regional or equivalent local authority representatives from the 27 countries of the EU. Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido, also took part.

The discussion sessions were held in an auditorium named after Miguel Delibes, the writer from Valladolid who died today, and the participants held a minute's silence in his honour. Mercedes Bresso praised him, saying his death was “an enormous loss to universal literature”.