The Member of the European Parliament from the Popular Party, Maravillas Abadía, suggests that the next Multiannual Financial Framework of the European Union for 2028-2034 must return a much more relevant role to the regions in the planning and management of community funds, in addition to ensuring "sufficient" funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), cohesion policy, and European social policy.
In an interview with Europa Press, Abadía emphasizes that "the first priority must be to return to the regions the prominence they should never have lost," considering that autonomous communities and municipalities are those who best know the needs of their territories. In this regard, she argues that "the experiment of centralization in the Government of Spain with the Next Generation funds has been a mistake" and warns that "Europe cannot build its future with its back to the regions."
The MEP stresses that the new budgetary framework will set "the course of the European Union for the next seven years" and that the EU must face new challenges, such as security or defense, "without renouncing what constitutes the basis of its prosperity: a competitive European industry, a strong agriculture, and a Europe that creates opportunities."
In this line, she defends maintaining the community policies that, in her opinion, "have proven their usefulness," among them the CAP, cohesion policy, and European social policy, providing them with sufficient resources and preserving their own identity.
Simplifying the CAP and Favoring Generational Change
Regarding the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, Abadía advocates for reducing bureaucratic burdens and facilitating the day-to-day of farmers with simpler procedures, greater legal certainty, and strong support for innovation and digitalization in the field.
"Europe has to trust farmers," emphasizes the MEP, who denounces that for too long "layers of bureaucracy have been added that have hindered their work without delivering better results."
She believes that this administrative simplification must be accompanied by a CAP with "sufficient" means, as "it would make no sense to simplify the rules if at the same time we reduce the budget allocated to those who guarantee our food security."
Among the great challenges of the agricultural sector, Abadía highlights the generational change and argues that it is necessary to facilitate that young people see in the countryside an option for the future, with profitable farms, access to innovation, adequate training, and an agricultural policy that rewards those who invest and bet on modern agriculture.
MORE INVESTMENTS TO GUARANTEE WATER SECURITY
Regarding water policy, the MEP recalls that, as the rapporteur for the mid-term review of cohesion policy, she promoted that water be included among the priorities eligible for European funding.
In her view, the new European Water Resilience Strategy represents "a new step" for the European Union to assume that this resource is also a "matter of food security, competitiveness, and economic development."
However, she warns that the next challenge is to transform those strategies into concrete projects. In this regard, she points out that for the Region of Murcia, the modernization of networks, the reuse of regenerated water, desalination, and the infrastructures that ensure supply are essential.
Abadía also emphasizes that the Region "does not start from scratch" and presents it as "a European reference in reuse and efficiency in water use," recalling that it reuses 98% of the water compared to much lower percentages in other Member States.
RECOVERING THE MAR MENOR THROUGH COOPERATION AND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
In relation to the Mar Menor, the MEP argues that its recovery must be a "shared priority" in which Europe contributes with funding, innovation, and scientific knowledge to promote environmental restoration projects, modernization of hydraulic infrastructures, and improvement of water quality.
In any case, she insists that this process "cannot become an ideological debate," but must be based "on scientific evidence, on cooperation among all administrations, and on effective management of available resources."
She also maintains that the protection of the Mar Menor must coexist with the economic activity of its surroundings and states that "the conservation of the environment and economic development are not incompatible objectives; on the contrary, they must advance together."
COMPETITIVENESS, EMPLOYMENT, AND SOCIAL ECONOMY
In the economic sphere, Abadía places competitiveness at the center of the current European legislature and considers that Europe must "recover" its capacity "to grow, innovate, attract investment, and generate employment."
In his opinion, this objective requires simplifying regulations, cutting bureaucracy, and facilitating access to financing, with an industrial policy that understands companies, SMEs, and self-employed individuals as "part of the solution and not a problem."
The MEP also advocates for maintaining a "strong" European social policy, backed by a European Social Fund with its own budget, to promote quality employment and the development of skills.
Furthermore, he claims the importance of the social economy and recalls that, as president of the Intergroup on Social Economy of the European Parliament, he works to ensure that cooperatives, social enterprises, and other entities gain weight in community policies. In this context, he argues that the Region of Murcia is "a benchmark" by demonstrating that it is possible to combine innovation, competitiveness, territorial attachment, and stable employment.
EUROPE AS A PROJECT OF OPPORTUNITIES
Looking ahead to the rest of the legislature, Abadía summarizes his goal as "Europe becoming a project of opportunities" after considering that community institutions have spent too much time reacting to successive crises.
In this framework, he places young people as the main axis of the future of the European Union and argues that the "success" of policies such as solid agriculture, a competitive industry, or a sustainable welfare state will depend on whether new generations want to remain linked to the European project.
Therefore, he explains that he promotes measures related to quality employment, training, skills, first job opportunities, and a better connection between the education system and the labor market, without forgetting other challenges such as access to housing or obstacles to entrepreneurship.
"In the end, no European strategy will succeed if it does not achieve something fundamental: to regain the trust of new generations. That is, probably, the greatest challenge we have ahead," he concludes.