The Catalan Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, and the Director of the European Commission Representation in Barcelona, Manuel Szapiro, announced today that the two institutions will be organising a conference on Catalonia’s most iconic European projects It will take place in Barcelona on Thursday 13 June, after the elections to the European Parliament.

The event, which will take place at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, will present the most outstanding initiatives organised in Catalonia which contribute to strategic transformations in Europe. The ultimate objective is to enhance the position of what Catalonia has to offer in the European Union, following initiatives in recent years involving the resumption of institutional relations at the highest level, and to take part in the new political cycle that will begin after the elections in the European Parliament.

Around 200 people are expected to attend the conference, including European stakeholders, institutional representatives, European project managers, and representatives of the private sector and European networks. The European Commission Representation in Barcelona will be sending representatives from several Commission departments, as well as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and other institutions.

“The conference will be an excellent showcase for enhancing the position of the most iconic initiatives undertaken in Catalonia, which are helping Europe to progress towards the strategic transformations it requires,” said Serret. “This important initiative for the country is possible thanks to the excellent partnership between the Government and the European Commission Representation in Barcelona, which has opened its doors to enable us to meet ten commissioners in under two years, and we have been able to present some of these projects that we will be presenting on 13 June,” concluded the minister.

Meanwhile, the director of the European Commission Representation in Barcelona, Manuel Szapiro, stressed: “We want this conference to act as a showcase of the European projects being carried out in Catalonia, which have an impact on the territory, and which can provide inspiration for the rest of Europe.”

The projects that will be presented at the conference on 13 June include MareNostrum and the Alba Synchrotron, as well as other equally cutting-edge European projects which have had less impact in the media.

The announcement was made before the extraordinary meeting of the Government’s Interdepartmental Commission for Foreign Action and European Union Relations, which the director Szapiro also attended in order to outline the scenario involved in the new political cycle in the European Union that will begin in the coming weeks, with the elections to the European Parliament in June and the beginning of a new European Commission’s term of office.