21 Dec The EGTC Rio Minho approves the Action and Budget Plan for 2023 and renews its Assembly Board

The EGTC Rio Minho is approving its Action Plan and Budget for the year 2023, starting with something more than 418,000 euros. Likewise, the Galician Portuguese entity renewed the positions of the Board of the Assembly for the current mandate, which lasts four years and is on a biannual rotational nature.

In this sense, the presidency of the Board of the Assembly fell to the president of the Municipal Council of Melgaço, Manoel Batista Calçada Pombal, while the mayoress of O Rosal, Ánxela Fernández Callís, was appointed secretary of the supervisory body, positions that after two years will alternate.

Cross-border funds for border projects

According to the director of EGTC Rio Minho, Uxío Benítez, 2023 is a year of transition between the programming periods of European funds, as among the group’s priorities for the coming year is the finalization of projects subject to requests still presented in the previous Interreg and the preparation of requests for Interreg 2021-2027. Benítez insisted that “these European funds are born and are designed for cross-border territories and are the projects that are created and held here by those that need to be received”, a claim shared by the municipalities of the territory and the presidencies of the Deputation of Pontevedra and the CIM Alto Minho.

In 2023, we will continue to focus on consolidating network work, strengthening local dynamics of cross-border cooperation, highlighting among them the development of the “Urban Agendas of the Cross-border Rio Minho.” In the same vein, the work of the “Observatory of Cross-border Dynamics” and the strategic planning process (“Rio Minho 2030 Strategy”) will continue, which will be carried out in collaboration with CIM Alto Minho and Deputation of Pontevedra.

The work of the EGTC Rio Minho in terms of preserving and enhancing the territory of the EGTC Rio Minho goes through the consolidation of the Rio Minho brand, the green ways of cross-border routes and the Rio Minho e-bike loan service, a project that enjoys great success among the citizens of both banks of the river. Continuity will also be given to the process of identifying obstacles to cross-border mobility and integration in the territory of the Rio Minho and to the promotion of collaborations for the design of proposed solutions, following participation in the B-solutions – Boosting Growth initiative of the European Union.