European Union It recognizes the shortage of quality jobs penalizing mid-sized cities and rural areas in places like Zamora, but aims to address it. Commissioner for Integration and Reforms Elisa Ferreira admitted this Thursday that big cities hoard jobs that pay the best wages, and that they do so to the detriment of places with declining populations, so she advocated “correcting this trend” in some places. fewer settlements “where economic growth and job opportunities can also be stimulated.”
Ferreira made these statements during his visit to Spain to attend the “Shaping the future of rural areas” conference held in the Guadalajara town of Sigüenza to talk about shaping the future of rural areas. According to the Europa Press agency, the Portuguese leader emphasized the importance of “accelerating rural settlement and doing everything possible without leaving anyone behind” in areas where population is decreasing.
All Europeans depend on rural areas
According to Ferreira, it is important to make clear that “all Europeans” are dependent on rural areas, from the perspective that regions with these characteristics are guarantors of many assets, such as biodiversity, food, renewable energy or heritage. That’s why the Commission representative tabled the goal of getting the town’s economy to “grow faster” with the support of community money.
With everything, ferreira He reminded that the European Union’s cohesion policy is “more than money” and advocated a course of action that “supports partners’ strategies while assessing their strengths and weaknesses, especially through local development.” Of course, Portuguese policy emphasized that not all improvements to rural areas and medium-sized cities “will be achieved by chance,” but rather that it is a process that “requires planning, outlining a vision, and coordinating policies and economic instruments.” .
It is worth noting that the conference held in Sigüenza was framed in the context of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, which will take place in the second half of 2023 and also includes objectives on combating population decline. In fact, at the same event, the Acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, assured that one of the plans of the Administration led by Pedro Sánchez is to develop the results of the work carried out throughout November. To advance at European level the development of rural areas and the demographic degradation of cities.
Planas assured that Spain has “ambitious” goals in this field and predicted good results based on the collective work carried out by the European Union countries. Encouraging the day’s participants to deepen the debate, the minister said: “We are not discussing square kilometres, but about men and women, about citizens who deserve a future.”
In this regard, the representative of the Spanish Government acknowledged that it was time to set targets that would ensure that actions focus on providing a “dignified future” for the citizens of places in real danger of being evacuated. According to Planas, this means striving for “sustainability” and “profitability” to strengthen the activities carried out in the regions. Zamora and its regions are waiting for the facts to catch the train of the future.
This Thursday, the Guadalajara town of Sigüenza hosted the highest conference at European level on shaping the future of rural areas on the territory of the community. Also present at the event was Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, who acknowledged that many of the best quality jobs are created in large cities and called out the need to “balance these trends” with actions in medium-sized municipalities. and towns. The event was also framed in the context of Spain’s EU Presidency, a period in which the Government wishes to be “ambitious” in designing real measures that allow to combat depopulation processes.
Generational change appears to be one of the biggest challenges
Generational change appears to be one of the biggest challenges that declining populations must address on the road to a more prosperous future. Zamora, which is already the oldest province of Spain and is moving towards European leadership among societies with a higher average age, is at the center of this fact, which was also brought to light by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food this Thursday. Luis Planas. The representative of the Spanish Government addressed this issue in particular, as well as the masculinization of rural societies. For Planas, the ideal is to move towards gender equality, which, in her opinion, is “absolutely fundamental”. In addition, the minister argued that all efforts should be directed towards a rural agreement with priorities such as digitalization, promotion of agri-food quality, support of local communities and entrepreneurship, which are necessary to create jobs.
The work of the coming years will be “vital” for municipalities
Janusz Wojciechowski, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, argued at the Sigüenza conference that the European Union makes all its tools available to countries to help achieve long-term goals for rural areas. More than 120 million euros for research and innovation. “The work we are doing will be vital not only for rural communities in the coming years, but also for European communities in general. Our latest targets have reinforced the need for rural areas,” Wojciechowski said in another hopeful message from the senior community level. , we expect more facts.