Catalonia takes reins of Pyrenees–Mediterranean Euroregion, aims to mitigate climate change and protect languages

Catalonia, as of Friday, presides over the Pyrenees–Mediterranean Euroregion, a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) formed almost 20 years ago by three members: the Catalan government, the government of the Balearic Islands, and Région Occitanie. It will hold this role for the next two years.

Catalan president Aragonès was in Toulouse to take the reins from Caroline Delga, the president of  Occitania, where he expressed his desire to help mitigate the effects of climate change and to protect the Catalan and Occitan languages, describing the group as "southern Europe's most important innovation ecosystem."

Although climate change is a "global challenge," the Catalan politician argued that it was necessary to find a "common response" to the issue, especially in terms of putting an end to dumping waste into the sea and finding a "more sustainable, resilient, and carbon-neutral" productive model. 

Minority languages

One of the Euroregion's goals is to protect minority languages, including Catalan and Occitan. 

They have a "road map" to follow the next two years, Delga said, citing the Catalan and Occitan language influencer competition the Euroregion organized. The Occitan president, however, recognized the difficulties when it comes to bolstering the language, particularly in France, where there is not an immersion system in schools. 

Creating an EU macro-region strategy

Catalonia, Occitania, and the Balearic Islands share the desire to increase their influence on a European scale with the creation of a macroregion strategy. 

The EU currently only has four: the Baltics, the Danube, the Adriatic-Ionian region, and the Alpine region. A new Pyrenees-Mediterranean would, in the words of Delga, serve to "respond to environmental, social, and cultural challenges together."