Governance

Legal organisation

The Euroregion Pyrenees Mediterranean is a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), a legal entity defined in the framework of European Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17/12/2013 amending Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006.

Its new standing rules and convention obey this European regulation, as well as the French law of territorial “collectivités” given that the EGTC is based in France.

Its members fund to a large extent the operation of the organisation and the Euroregion’s multiannual action plan. The other part of its funding comes from European Union funds, i.e. from its different programmes, be it on cooperation (the INTERREG programmes) or from other sectorial calls such as LIFE, Horizon Europe and Europe Creative. A small part of the funding can also come from other partners’ contributions, either public or private.

The Euroregion’s budget varies depending on the years, the calls, the European projects underway and the actions scheduled.

Check our YouTube channel to watch a presentation video of the Euroregion!

Members

The EGTC Euroregion Pyrenees Mediterranean is formed by its 3 founding members: the Région Occitanie (previously Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon), the Government of Catalonia and the Government of the Balearic Islands.

Catalonia

Catalonia covers a surface area of 31,950 km². It has over 7,673 million inhabitants (Idescat, on 01/07/2019), i.e., 17% of the population of Spain. Its GDP is 250,597 million euros (Idescat, 2019) and it provides 20.12% of Spanish GDP.

The Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands comprises four Mediterranean islands (Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera) and several islets. It has a surface area of 4,992 km² and 1,149,460 inhabitants (IBESTAT, 2019). Its GDP is 33,716 million euros (IBESTAT, 2019) and it occupies sixth place in GDP per capita among Spanish autonomous regions.

Occitanie

The Région Occitanie has a surface are of 72,724 km². It is a region in Southern France with over 5.9 million inhabitants (INSEE, 2019), accounting for 9% of the French population. With a GDP of 159,115 million euros (INSEE, 2015), it provides 7.7% of French GDP.

Presidency

The presidency is based on a two-year rotating system among its members; since February 2023, the Presidency of the Euroregion is assumed by the President of the government of the Generalitat of Catalonia, currently Salvador Illa.

Salvador Illa, President of the Generalitat de Catalunya and of the Euroregion; Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie Region; Margalida Prohens, President of the Balearic Islands Government

You will find here the programme of the Catalan presidency of the Euroregion 2023-2025 (CAT) and here the dedicated page of the Generalitat, with the link to their presentation video.

Transfer of the Presidency of the Euroregió between Carole Delga and Pere Aragonès (former President of the Generalitat), with the presence of Rosario Sánchez, Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, representing the Government of the Balearic Islands. Toulouse, February 2023.

Commissions and work groups

The Euroregion has 5 thematic commissions:

The Euroregion’s commissions:

are responsible for implementing the multiannual action plan for the 2030 roadmap;
fund the actions assigned to them;
follow the Euroregion’s strategic projects, including Euroregional calls, as well as European projects in which the Euroregion is a partner;
participate in the selection panels of the projects submitted to the calls;
are formed by political and technical representatives of the departments and sectorial agencies of each of the 3 members;
are led by the Secretary General of the Euroregion, with the support of the Technical Secretariat.

Work groups:

Moreover, the Euroregion has work groups to closely monitor the specific projects that the Euroregion leads or in which it participates.

These are for example: Parks, Water, Climate, Energy, Waste, or Agriculture.

They participate in the definition of the projects and their funding.

They include the officers of the sectorial departments or the agencies of each of the three members.

Technical Secretariat

The Technical Secretariat of the Euroregion

The Technical Secretariat of the Euroregion comprises the agents contracted by the EGTC Euroregion Pyrenees Mediterranean, whether civil servants or contracted staff, in order to ensure the smooth running of the institution and monitoring of the action plan and European projects in which it participates. It is led by the Secretary General.

The Secretary General:

He is appointed by the Presidency at the proposal of the General Assembly and leads the activity of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) in the framework of the guidelines and missions decided by the Assembly and by delegation of the Presidency. The Secretary General prepares the budget and the deliberations of the Assembly and ensures the general management of the EGTC, among other duties.

The Technical Secretariat comprises: