Mallorca presses EU as island costs reach 30%

Getting goods to Mallorca and the rest of the Balearics costs 15 to 30 percent more in logistics than in comparable mainland areas. The Balearic Government is now pressing the European Union for practical help, arguing that island life must count in the rules that shape business and public services.

Europa Press

Francisca Ramis, the Balearic Government’s director general for institutional relations and relations with Parliament, set out the demands on Friday at the European Committee of the Regions’ Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget. She wants the forthcoming EU strategy for islands to move beyond recognition and deliver measures that can be used.

The government is calling for a shared, objective way to calculate the extra costs faced by islands. Alongside freight bills, it points to longer access times for some specialist health services and higher energy costs linked to insufficient interconnection.

Ramis said the system should measure those burdens consistently, rather than leaving them to discretionary decisions or case-by-case exceptions. The aim is to give islands’ geographical circumstances greater weight when European rules are drawn up.

The Balearics also want the EU to scrap the 150-kilometre limit applied to islands in the same maritime basin or sub-basin. “The sea is not a road,” Ramis said, arguing that sea distances cannot be judged by the same yardstick as journeys over land.

Removing the limit would strengthen cooperation between European island territories, she said. Ramis added that European institutions have called for the restriction to go on several occasions.

The government is also seeking one legal definition for island territories across EU policies. Its proposed island clause would require lawmakers to assess the effect on islands while new legislation is being designed, using factors including area, population, distance, reliance on sea or air transport, time and double-island situations.

It also wants more flexibility in de minimis aid — small state grants for businesses. Compensation for the added cost of transporting goods can take up a large share of that ceiling, leaving companies, farmers and fishers with less room to compete on equivalent terms.

The proposals have been examined and are due to be included by the rapporteur in the opinion on the future EU strategy for islands.

Mallorca’s 30% island cost gap: EU action urged