Island transport up to 300% dearer: PP seeks EU help

Mallorca’s regional government also wants EU help with the cost of island life: People’s Party MEP Rosa Estarás says transport on a European island can cost up to 300% more. On 9 October, she and fellow party MEP Gabriel Mato pressed the case in the European Parliament during a debate on the EU’s strategy for islands, coastal communities and far-flung regions.

Estarás said islanders depend on sea and air links. She put the possible extra cost of housing at 130%, and that of public services at between 30% and 50%. She also warned of greater difficulty reaching healthcare, education and emergency services. More than 17 million Europeans live on over 4,000 inhabited islands, she said.

The People’s Party wants EU laws and the next budget to take those costs into account, with specific measures and enough funding to offset them. Estarás called for a dedicated EU framework, as the Balearic Islands government has also done.

Mato welcomed the European Commission’s proposed laws to reflect the needs of far-flung regions. But he said it had not clearly committed to continuing POSEI, an EU programme for remote island regions that he described as vital to agriculture, food security and the wider economy of the Canary Islands. The next test, he said, is whether the EU puts the strategy’s commitments into its next long-term budget.

Topics: Agriculture · Social affairs · Health · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com