The President of the Government of Spain agrees with the Lehendakari on the transfer of the management of the coastline and cinematography

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Meeting between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the Basque Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, met this Wednesday with the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, at Moncloa Palace and, subsequently, both took part in the Bilateral Commission for Cooperation between the State Administration and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, a meeting in which they agreed on the transfer of powers relating to the management of the coast and cinematography, which will be signed in the Joint Commission for Transfers before the end of the year.

The holding of this Bilateral Commission fulfils the commitment made by Sánchez and Pradales at their meeting last September, in the framework of the round of contacts between the president of the Government of Spain and the regional presidents. At the end of the meeting, the Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, appeared to give details of the content of the meeting.

Minister Torres underlined the shared will of both the Central and Basque governments to complete the transfers of competences contemplated in the Statute of Gernika, which would be added to the 14 transfers of competences that have already been promoted by the Pedro Sánchez's Government since 2018.

In this sense, Torres detailed the future timetable for transfers, focusing on four specific areas: immigration work permits, the National Centre for the Verification of Machinery in Barakaldo, Meteorology and Maritime Rescue. "In order to make progress on these transfers, we have agreed to create a sub-committee made up of the Central and Basque governments and representatives of the ministries involved to simplify the next steps," Torres said.

Furthermore, the minister announced the creation of working groups to promote the creation of the European Atlantic Macroregion, as well as the promotion of Basque as an official language of the European Union.

Meeting of members of the State-Basque Country Bilateral Cooperation Commission | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Willingness to negotiate and reach agreement with the Government of the Basque Country

This Bilateral Commission demonstrates the will for negotiation and agreement between the Government of Spain and the Government of the Basque Country, as well as the fluidity and good understanding between the two executives, which strengthen the relationship of mutual trust between administrations.

The meeting of the Bilateral Commission was attended, on behalf of the Government of Spain, by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez; the Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres; the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy, Arcadi España; the Secretary General for Territorial Coordination, Miryam Álvarez; and the Government Delegate in the Basque Country, María Soledad Garmendia.

On behalf of the Basque Government, the following took part: the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales; the Vice-Lehendakari and Minister for Culture and Linguistic Policy, Ibone Bengoetxea; the Minister for Governance, Digital Administration and Self-Government, María Ubarretxena; the Secretary General for Coordination and Social Communication, Mikel Iriondo; the Vice-Minister for Treasury and Finance, Iñaki Arce; the Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Leandro Azcue; and the Director of Self-Government, Begoña Pérez de Eulate.

Non official translation