The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, is in Brussels to participate in the 153rd plenary session of the Committee of the Regions on behalf of the European Alliance group. Serret announced that the Government of Catalonia is joining the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which was launched by the Committee of the Regions and its partners to coordinate joint efforts to assist in the recovery and sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine.

Speaking at the Committee of the Regions plenary session, under the item on the 2030 Agenda, and in the presence of UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, Minister Serret confirmed the commitment of Catalonia, its government and its people to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and explained that the Catalan Government will produce a status report to verify their achievement.

Serret spoke about how "we are living in a time of climate, environmental and social emergency of the first magnitude, and we see it in our territories", and said that it is for this reason that "it is necessary to dedicate more effort to achieving the SDGs with courageous, transformative public policies, with a systemic vision and with real partnerships with civil society".

This report will incorporate the views of civil society as well as the local sphere through the over 70 public and private organisations participating in the Aliança Catalunya 2030 coalition. The Catalan Government will include everything it has done since the entry into force of the 2030 Agenda, such as the Strategic Food Plan for Catalonia, the Maritime Strategy, the Catalan Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change, the guaranteed basic income for citizens and the incorporation of the SDGs into the school curriculum. "There are still challenges pending, and we want and must continue to work and share them at the European level", said the minister.

Serret went on the congratulate the European Union on its submission of a voluntary report on the achievement of the SDGs. "We believe that the assessment and the opportunity for learning this entails are essential in progressing towards a stronger, fairer and more integrated and sustainable Europe, and we in Catalonia will continue to be committed to it," she said.

From Brussels, the Minister for Foreign Action and European Union also regretted "that the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions could be used in a partisan manner", in reference to the petition for protection filed by a parent on the 25% use of Spanish in Catalan schools. "We in the Catalan Government remain committed to the great consensus of Catalan society and the Catalan Parliament that the Catalan school model represents, which ensures inclusion and social cohesion", stated Serret. The minister underlined the Catalan Government's commitment "to explain far and wide, including in Brussels, in the heart of Europe, exactly what this model of education widely endorsed in Catalonia entails". "We will persist in the unfailing task of defending what the majority of Catalonia has decided is best for the Catalan education system", she concluded.

This morning from Brussels, Minister Serret chaired the Catalan Committee for Emergency Humanitarian Aid (CCAHE)to coordinate the Catalan response to the earthquake crisis in Turkey, Syria and Kurdistan.