“Catalonia is core business for the European Union” – Ramon Tremosa
According to the Member of European Parliament, Catalonia is a core and well-connected region, as is demonstrated by the growth figures for infrastructure such as the port of Barcelona or El Prat airport. At the 12th FOCIR Breakfast, held on October 19 at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Ramon Tremosa presented an overview of European news and stressed the importance of informal networks for promoting public diplomacy as “their strength is this country’s excellence.”
Ramon Tremosa, who was reelected MEP in 2014 and is a member of the Economic and International Commerce Commissions, reviewed some of Europe’s current issues at the FOCIR Breakfast, claiming that “rather than more Europe, we need a better Europe.” At the same time, he also emphasised how important it is for Catalonia to be interconnected with the rest of the continent: “the more we are open to the world and integrated into the EU (the EU that works), the freer we are.”
When discussing his experience in Brussels, the MEP highlighted the relevance of precedents created within the European framework that contribute to normalising referendums as a participatory mechanism. To this effect, Tremosa also stressed the importance having brought Catalan desires for independence into the democratic arena.
The PDeCAT MEP also expressed his support for a single list for the next Europeans elections that would serve as a lever for Catalonia and spread “the message that Catalonia is a nation that is aware that its rights are being represssed.”
Tremosa also reasserted the importanc of Catalan soft power and urged attendees to take advantage of the informal networks in the country that work in fields that Catalonia has excelled in, such as sports, culture, gastronomy or architecture since, according to him, “their strength is the country’s excellence.” To exemplify this point, Tremosa cited the case of Microsoft using the image of Catalan human towers in an ad promoting their cloud internationally, stating that “not even all the public budget in the world could pay for that.”
Watch the recording of the discussion.
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