The Vice-President of the European Parliament and the President of the Government of Madeira have today argued that the autonomous region cannot be penalised for access to European funds for its economic development.
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23/09/2026
by
Lusa
Younius Omarjee and Miguel Albuquerque spoke at Quinta Vigia, the official residence of the presidency of the Madeiran government in Funchal, at a joint press conference.
“Madeira, and that is what I want to make clear, should not be penalised for its development and it is this battle that we are going to fight so that in the future budgetary framework there will not be a single euro missing from the outermost regions,” said the Vice-President of the European Parliament.
Younous Omarjee pointed out, on the other hand, that there cannot be a recentralisation of European funds, reiterating that “there is no obligation to recentralise European management”.
The person responsible also pointed out that Madeira made good use of European funds, which contributed to the development of the autonomous region.
Also the president of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, reaffirmed that “regardless of the economic development of these regions, they cannot be penalised for economic development.”.
“They cannot index to the internal product of each region the necessary support for the European Union”, reinforced the head of the Madeiran executive.
The outermost regions “have permanent structural difficulties,” Albuquerque added, listing the “geographical distance from large centres, the lack of scale on the market, internal housing issues and the need to support the European social system”.
The President of the Regional Government also stressed the importance of the outermost regions in the world and the “incommensurable maritime dimension” that they give to the European Union.
A delegation, composed of 10 members of the European Parliament Regional Development Commission (REGI), is in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, on a visit ending today, meeting with entities and visiting several projects.
After a meeting with all the regional secretaries of the government led by Miguel Albuquerque, the Vice-President of the European Parliament again made statements to journalists to conclude the three-day visit to Madeira, stressing that it was possible to understand the importance of Europe in the quality of life of Madeirans.
Younous Omarjee, accompanied by Madeiran MEP Sérgio Gonçalves, insisted that the European Parliament assumes a position of claiming that “the budget of the outermost regions should not be sacrificed because there are other challenges today”.