The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès i Garcia, has announced that Catalonia and the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg have agreed to “create a working group on green hydrogen”, with the aim of "sharing experiences and strategies from both territories to contribute to the energy sovereignty that Europe needs”.

The head of government, accompanied by the Minister for Business and Labor, Roger Torrent i Ramió, met with Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann and other members of his government as part of the institutional trip to Germany to expand institutional and economic links with Catalonia.

The President expressed “Catalonia’s commitment to strengthening its own energy position in Europe” and “facilitating all actions in this area to ensure the supply and development of new energies such as green hydrogen, a strategic issue for Catalonia and also one of the priorities for the government of Baden-Wurttemberg”. He highlighted as ​​"one of the most important in Europe” the liquefied gas regasification plant at the Port of Barcelona, and defended the need to "develop the Midcat", an infrastructure that would be used to transport natural gas and then green hydrogen.

The chief executive also announced that the technology multinational Freudenberg will invest 10 million euros in Catalonia, to build a new plant for the production of automotive components in Parets del Vallès (Vallès Oriental). Aragonès announced this after visiting the company's headquarters in Weinheim and meeting with executives. He was accompanied by the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent i Ramió.

In statements to the media after the visit, Pere Aragonès, pointed out that the new plant is “a clear example of the reindustrialization process that we are promoting from the Government of the Generalitat", he assured. He stressed that the automotive sector "is undergoing a great transformation" and that this new Freudenberg plant, "modern and automated", will contribute to the "green transformation that we are promoting in Catalonia and which is going to abandon the fossil fuels and commit to renewable energy generation”.

In Berlin, the President of the Generalitat visited one of the main points for the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Berlin, the first reception center which is run by the Malteser organization at the central bus station. He has been able to meet first-hand “the reception system” and has met with some of the organizations working there, such as the German Red Cross, and Jobs4Refugges, which prepares the newcomers for training and employment.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the head of government made clear that we are facing a humanitarian emergency and that "this is the time for maximum European commitment and solidarity with refugees". In this sense, he recalled that "Catalonia is fully committed" and has been working for weeks to make the reception and delivery of solidarity "as efficient as possible" because "we must be able to provide all the dignity and all the rights of people coming from Ukraine and also from other conflicts”.

The aim of the trip is to expand Germany’s institutional and economic links with Catalonia. The chief executive has held several private working meetings and visited the government delegation, where he met with the heads of the “delegació d’ACCIÓ” (Action Delegation), Alberto Martín; from the Ramon Llull Institute, Sílvia González; of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises, Neus Mèlich, and the director of the Catalan Tourism Agency, Montserrat Sierra.