​This morning, the renewed Interregional Group on Insular Regions, initiated and chaired by our president Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, held its inaugural meeting.

Members from Corsica, Malta, the Balearic and Canary Islands, the Azores, Cyprus, Réunion, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, and other key stakeholders came together to launch this new chapter.

In addition to those present at the inaugural meeting, the group also includes full and alternate members from Italy, Greece, Ireland, and Denmark.

The group offers a dedicated forum to exchange experiences, identify shared challenges, and shape joint proposals on priorities such as Cohesion Policy, the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, and future Interreg programmes, thus putting island needs firmly on the EU agenda.

You can consult the Committee of the Regions' press release here. 

On the same day, Ms Maupertuis spoke at the conference "Bridging the Gap: Responding to Connectivity and Tourism Challenges for Resilient European Islands", organised by the European Parliament's Intergroup Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas (SEArica). The event, which also featured keynote addresses by Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, and Costas Kadis, Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, explored how a tailored, innovative, and transformative EU approach to connectivity and tourism can underpin resilience in island territories.